


Can we skip to the good part?

by yourgaydad



Series: We are human after all [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mary and Richard Parker aren't the best parents in this one, Miscommunication, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony is Peter's biological father, Underage Drinking, not related to main characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-03-25 03:37:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13825644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourgaydad/pseuds/yourgaydad
Summary: A day after his sixteenth birthday Peter finds out that Tony Stark is his biological father. But what the hell is he supposed to do now?***If Peter said that he never thought about Mr. Stark as his dad he would be lying. He didn’t do it consciously of course. It was just those things at the back of his head that sometimes got closer to the surface. But whenever a thought like ‘Wonder what dad would say’ or ‘Is dad picking me up today?’ occurred, he felt extremely embarrassed about it.Now, instead of being ecstatic about Mr. Stark being his father, the boy felt agitated at just the thought of talking to the man. What was he going to think? That Peter wanted more attention? Money? His name?





	1. In my mind; I thought the birds would sing and sparks would fly; But it’s just quiet

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening on repeat to AJR (the Click) while writing this and used some of the lyrics for the titles.
> 
> Work title - "The Good Part"  
> Chapter 1 - "Turning Out"

24 hours earlier Peter was celebrating his sixteenth birthday. It wasn’t a big party, barely a dinner at their apartment, but all the important people were there. May, his two best friends and Tony together with Pepper. That was all he needed to have a great time.

And now his life was about to change forever.

Peter stood in front of a long wall at the back of Grand Central Terminal at Midtown Manhattan. He saw this place too many times to count, but never paid attention to what it actually was. The wall was full of lockers that looked just like the ones in his school. Well, they were probably much more secure.

He felt relieved when the address he found on the back of the letter led him to this place and not some house or apartment. It was easier to open a locker than to stand face to face with a stranger, not knowing what to say.

Easier was still far away from easy. He stood there, frozen to the spot, for over ten minutes. Staring at the number that concealed his true identity. The password was fixed in his mind from reading it over and over, but using it seemed impossible.

His hand was trembling when he eventually found the courage to open the locker.

***

The park around him was full of shadows, only the faint glow of a lamppost keeping him out of darkness.

The package sat at his knees as he eyed it warily. It was rather light, roughly the size of a shoebox. 

He pulled the letter out of his pocket and read it once again, trying to stay calm.

_Dear Peter,_

_If everything went as planned you are reading this a day after your sixteenth birthday. I wish you all the best, my lovely boy. I’m so sorry I’m not there for you. The only thing keeping me sane right now is the confidence that Ben and May will love you and take care of you the best they can. They are good people and I know you must be a truly amazing young man yourself._

_I have something important to tell you Peter. Maybe it won’t change anything, but I need you to know just in case._

_Richard Parker is not your biological father. I won’t go into details, but the important thing is that he knew about it even before you were born. Richard loves you and treats you like his son. It was our shared decision to keep your actual father out of your life. We believed that was the best for you._

_Perhaps that’s not true anymore and, with us gone, he will be the someone that you need. That’s why I’m writing this._

_There is an address on the back of the letter, follow it if you want to find your father. Don’t act reckless. Think it through before you tell anyone._

_I love you Peter,_

_Mom_

Peter tugged at his hair. He felt like the four year old, little, orphaned boy all over again. No idea what would happen to him. Of course he wanted to know who his father was, but… It would be so much easier if there was somebody with him. He didn’t want to go through it alone.

The old, beaten up phone somehow appeared in his hand and he was going through contacts before he even thought about it. His finger hovered over the name. There was only one person he felt like calling.

For the last few months, after the whole deal with Vulture, his relation with Mr. Stark changed to something entirely different. Peter got used to talking or texting with Tony regularly and they spent quite a lot of time together, be it in the Compound or in the city.

The truth was, Mr. Stark became an actual mentor for Peter. Well, maybe even more than that. The boy wasn’t afraid to ask him for advice and often it was the man himself who offered words of encouragement or comfort. That was exactly what he needed right now, but… 

_Think it through before you tell anyone._

What was that supposed to mean?

Peter shook his head with irritation and tore the package open. What was the point in waiting. It would be just like ripping a bandage of.

The first thing he took out of the box was an old photo. He turned it under the light and stared at the faces of Mary and Richard Parker.

They looked happy.

Held in between them was a bundle of colorful blankets, a little pink face barely visible. Baby Peter.

It was the first time the boy saw a picture of himself in such a young age. Most importantly, it was the first time he saw the faces of both his parents together since the day they left him with Ben and May.

It took him a split moment to realize something obvious. Anyone who had the smallest knowledge of genetics would notice it. How did he never see it before? Well. He probably didn’t want to.

Looking at him from the photography, Mary and Richard both had blue eyes. That meant Peter’s should be just as light. There was no other option, but here he was. His dark brown eyes filling up with tears.

It took him a long moment to leave the picture be and search the box further. He took out an article cut out from a newspaper.

Seeing the title and blurry picture next to it made his heart stop.

It felt like some sick joke.

The man was at least ten years younger, but time didn’t change Tony Stark that much. 

***

“Peter, when will you be back? You left without a word and it’s getting late. Being sixteen doesn’t change your curfew, you know…”

“Oh- I’m- I’m on my way back.”

May frowned in surprise. Peter was clearly upset.

“Is everything alright, Pete? Where are you?”

“I’m- I’m fine. Everything’s alright” the boy sounded more cheerful now but she could hear him clearing his throat. “I will be home soon.”

When Peter came back almost an hour later, everything seemed to be great. He joined May at the couch for few minutes, telling her about his evening with Ned, all chatty and smiley, before quickly disappearing in his bedroom for the night. She knew him too well to be fooled that easily.

In moments like this, it was too easy to recall the first weeks Peter spent at this apartment. 

The boy was so small back then. Her heart felt like breaking with every sad look he gave her, but oddly, Peter never cried. Not during day when they tried to keep him occupied and happy nor at night when they put him to sleep, leaving the door of guest room slightly ajar.

May and Ben were barely over thirty when Peter became a constant in their lives. The Parker brothers were never close so she could count on fingers of one hand the times she saw Peter before that day. Truth was, they weren’t ready to have kids and they definitely didn’t have experience in taking care of one.

The only thing showing the boy’s distress, beside him being quiet all the time, was his wandering at night. It took months before Peter started to sleep more or less peacefully without getting up. They suspected he walked around the apartment most of the nights, little things moved from it’s places, before going back to the guest room and eventually falling asleep. Never turning on the lights or acting loud enough to wake them up. 

Sometimes he would fall asleep in one odd place or another to be found by them in the morning. The couch was an obvious spot, but he would bury himself under pillows and blankets until he practically disappeared. Ben almost sat on him the first time around. There were few times when they found him curled up on the floor beside the entrance door, his bare feet shaking from cold, or on the windowsill, little face pressed against the glass. 

Another spot was in May and Ben’s bedroom. They were basically strangers to the boy back then and it took Peter long time to get familiar and natural with them. There have been nights when he must have felt extremely lonely and needed to be close with someone. He was still too shy to even ask for anything if they didn’t offer so getting into their bed was way out of his comfort zone, but multiple times they woke up in the morning to see the door creaked open and Peter curled on the floor, almost hidden under their bed.

Every time something like this happened they told Peter it was okay to wake them up whenever he needed or just get in the bed with them. The boy would nod politely but at the same time frowned seriously, as if it didn’t make sense to him. Why would you want to be woken up by a strange kid, he seemed to be thinking.

Mary and Richard were amazing scientists and good people, but May wasn’t sure if they were very devoted parents. A four year old Peter murmured things about interrupting and being busy too much for her liking.

When the news of Mary and Richard’s accident came she wasn’t as devastated as she should have been. It was weeks after they left Peter with them and she already thought of him as her kid. Being orphaned was a horrible thing to survive, but she wasn’t sure if being raised by two scientists dedicated more to work than a child wasn’t worse. 

Maybe it made her a bad person. She didn’t care. Peter’s happiness and well-being were more important.

***

It was late at night but Peter couldn’t fall asleep. He laid in his bed motionlessly, staring blankly into the darkness as his thoughts run around the same topic, hour after hour, nothing to distract him from their downward spiral.

Richard Parker was at the beginning of it all. Not his father apparently, but still somebody he thought of as a dad his whole life. He didn’t remember much of him or his mom. There were only some vague memories associated with his person. And the feeling of loss. Peter knew it was caused by the knowledge that a part of his life and identity got lost forever, more than missing the man specifically, but it didn’t make it better. Or easier to ignore.

Next up in his thoughts was Ben, the perfect uncle that turned from stranger to best friend. He was definitely some kind of father figure in his life, but because of his relatively young age and the way he treated Peter like an equal since day one, he was always more of an older brother than an actual father to him. They got their traditions and shared hobbies as well as differences they could argue about forever and topics they agreed not to discuss again, mostly for May’s sake. 

Ben’s sudden death left Peter with emptiness much worse than his parents disappearing ever caused. How could he have lost another person? Another relative that should have lived much longer? It felt absolutely unfair. Like he had somehow been cheated in a game he didn’t even realised he was playing.

It took a lot out of him. The only thing keeping Peter together was the need to be strong for May. He knew that was what Ben would have wanted and he wasn’t going to disappoint him. He could imagine that May felt the same way. So they sticked together, got through the worst weeks of their lives, and came out even closer with each other. 

And then one day he came home to see Tony Stark sitting leisurely in his living room.

The thing was, Tony was present in his life a long time before ever stepping into that Queens apartment.

Peter was a science kid even before he learned how to read or count above hundred. And in eyes of a kid this age, there was no better scientist in the world than Tony Stark. He got older, learned how to read and write, there were no numbers big enough to be a problem, but he never changed that opinion.

When the billionaire introduced himself as Iron Man to the world, it was just a cherry on top for the kid. Captain America bed covers quickly got replaced.

Visiting the Stark Expo was a dream come true. He never told Mr. Stark about the little encounter they had there. For years, he didn’t even understand that Iron Man saved his life that night. It wasn’t what he remembered the most. ‘Nice work, kid’ came in his memories every time he felt like he deserved some approval on a project he finished or vintage piece of junk he took apart and fixed. He could almost feel a pat on his back.

Neither Ben nor May were the sciencey type and, with his little head full of questions and ideas, he needed somebody to talk to. He would never admit it, but May heard her little nephew say things like ‘Look at that Tony!’ or ‘Does it seem right to you, Mr. Stark?’ too many times to count.

And now he actually had that. Working with Tony in his workshop, sometimes getting to help him with Iron Man suit or the man giving him advice on his projects, it was amazing. Better than that, their relationship went beyond just science stuff. Mr. Stark would often take him out for dinner or coffee when he was in the city, sometimes even picking him up from school. He also went upstate almost every week and was welcome to stay at the Compound anytime he wanted.

If Peter said that he never thought about Mr. Stark as his dad he would be lying. He didn’t do it consciously of course. It was just those things at the back of his head that sometimes got closer to the surface. But whenever a thought like ‘Wonder what dad would say’ or ‘Is dad picking me up today?’ occurred, he felt extremely embarrassed about it. Thank God he never said anything like that out loud. Just thinking about it made him cringe.

Maybe Mr. Stark didn’t treat being a mentor like a painful responsibility anymore and actually liked spending time with Peter, but being called a dad? That would for sure freak him out. It could probably be turned into a joke and quickly forgotten, but just as possible was Tony laughing at him for such an idiocy and Peter dying out of shame.

That’s why instead of being ecstatic about Mr. Stark being his father, the boy felt agitated at just the thought of talking to the man. What was he going to think? That Peter wanted more attention? Money? His name?

The worst in it all was that he had no proof. Richard Parker was not his father, he knew that, but what if his mom was wrong about Tony Stark? She didn’t even write how she met him. What if Peter told Mr. Stark everything and it turned out to be a lie? What would the man think of him then?

Actually, there was another thing, just as bad. 

What was he supposed to tell May? That she and Ben wasted all this years on raising a kid that wasn’t even their nephew? Their life would have been so much easier if he never appeared at their door. Would she ask Peter to move out and forget about him?

Peter went through a lot in his life, but loosing May? He wouldn’t survive that, no matter who his father was.


	2. If there's a good part then;  I hope it's not far 'cause;  I thought it'd be today

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title - AJR, The Good Part
> 
> Thanks a lot for all the comments on first chapter! Each one is a huge motivation bust for me! :)  
> Chapter 5 is almost ready! I'll do my best to post new chapter every day and hopefully write the last one in that time.
> 
> Also, even though Tony thinks about Peter as his kid all the time, it's just because of their relation, he has no idea about the truth.
> 
> Enjoy! :)

Peter knew it was going to be a hard day at school, but after the sleepless night he had he felt barely alive when his classes ended. The only good thing about it was that the anxious thoughts about the previous day’s discovery didn’t attack him every minute.

Now, that the school was over, he needed other distractions to not fixate on the subject and what he should or shouldn’t do. May wouldn’t be home for another few hours and staying alone in the flat seemed like an awful idea. So his choice was obvious. He parted with Ned at the lockers and went for the back exit.

There was a call coming in almost as soon as he put the suit on and started to climb the nearest wall.

“Hey kid, you still in school?” Tony’s voice filled his ears and he took a calming breath.

“No. I just started patrol” Peter answered shortly, trying not to sound bitter. Why was he even feeling that way? Tony didn’t do anything wrong.

“Already? Well, aren’t you a busy little spider” the man laughed at his own joke. “I’m actually waiting by your school right now. I was nearby, thought you could use some company after that algebra test” there was a moment of silence, Tony waiting for Peter to say something. “So… Are you coming back down? How did the test go?”

“The test was fine” It wasn’t. He was too tired to think properly. “I’m staying up. Sorry you wasted the time.”

“I have to go” he added quickly and ended the call before the man could answer.

There was no emergency around, but he needed to end the conversation. 

Why did Mr. Stark had to be so perfect? Remembering he had a test that day and picking him up after? He probably wanted to take him to that pancake place they went the last time. Or the coffee shop that served Peter’s favorite hot chocolate.

Why did it make Peter so angry? He felt like punching something or curling on the floor crying. Or both at the same time. Shit.

***

Few blocks away a very shocked Tony was sitting in his car and staring at the phone.

What the hell just happened?

The test was fine? That’s it? Usually Peter chattered about school forever. He would list all the questions and explain his every answer. They once spent the whole ride upstate solving integrals just to make sure he did them right. 

In what way was the test fine? Was it as hard as Peter was afraid it would? Did he nailed it anyway?

And why didn’t he want to spend some time together? He always wanted to hang out with Tony. Sometimes the man himself had to remind him about homework or curfew.

Did he scare the kid away? Perhaps Peter got tired of him. With all the time they spent together over the past few months, working or hanging out, it was pretty likely. Wouldn’t be the first time that happened to Tony.

The man sighed and started the car. 

***

Peter got so caught up in his need of distraction that he launched himself at every little crime he noticed. He was so engrossed in swinging through the city that he didn’t even realize when it got dark. By the time he traced back to his backpack and returned home it was way past dinner time. 

May didn’t hide her irritated look, but as soon as she got a proper sight of him it changed to worry.

“Sweetie…” she said gently and motioned for him to join her on the couch. 

Peter stood in place for a moment. Maybe he should start being less attached to May. In case she would find out about everything and ask him to leave, it would be easier to not be so close.

The boy sat on the far end of the couch and tried to look like there was nothing to worry about, but May wasn’t buying it.

“Don’t be silly Peter” just few seconds of her staring were enough for the boy to cave in. He moved across the couch and gingerly laid his head on her lap.

“Tough day?” she asked caressing his hair.

“Yeah” the boy relaxed into the touch.

“Wanna tell me?” she took in his rough appearance and pouty face.

“Can we just watch tv?” he asked in a breaking voice before rubbing at his eyes.

“Of course baby.”

So they stayed at the couch, watching some crappy soap opera. May played with his hair, knowing it always relaxed the boy, as his breath slowly calmed and deepened. She watched as his face turned peaceful when he fell asleep, but it didn’t stop her from wondering. 

Her boy was so happy just days ago. He acted like a regular teenager at his birthday and she loved seeing him like this. What could have happened that worried him so much?

***

It was a quiet afternoon as Peter patrolled the city few days later. The time helped him be more calm even if all the thoughts he had before still itched at his conscience.

There wasn’t much going on so he was chilling on a rooftop and snacking when he came up with an idea. 

“Karen, can you stop recording?” he asked suddenly. Discussing problems with the AI always helped him, but he couldn’t take the chance of Mr. Stark finding this one later.

“Your visual must be recorded at all times when the suit is active” the answer came right away. “But I can turn off the sound. Would that help, Peter?”

“Yes, do it please.”

“Voice recording disabled. I also erased the last minute. What do you want to talk about Peter?”

“Richard Parker wasn’t my father. I found out last week” it was easy to say to Karen. She wouldn’t make any stupid comments or make him feel bad. She wasn’t programmed for that.

“I know fatherhood is important to humans. What does it change for you?”

“Well, I wasn’t close with him, I don’t even remember him that well. But that means I’m not related to May, even if just through Ben, because he wasn’t my uncle either” he said and waited for an answer.

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life” the AI offered gently.

“Wow Karen. That’s deep” Peter almost chuckled.

“It’s a R. Bach quote. I think it fits your situation well.”

“Yeah… I guess, but…” his legs were dangling in the air.

“What are you worried will happen?”

“What if- What if she will get angry at me for ruining her life with Ben. It turns out they didn’t have a reason to take me” he sighed deeply. “What will I do if she tells me to leave and never come back?”

“I highly doubt that Peter. The two of you have a very strong bond. Asking you to leave would be unpleasant and painful for May. It makes no sense at all.”

Peter nodded and stared ahead in silence. Karen waited for a long moment before inquiring him further.

“Is the identity of your biological father also upsetting you?”

“I- I’m not sure. Mom left me his name but there was no proof. How do I know if it’s true? Making a fool of myself is the last thing I need.”

“You know how to do a paternity test. You could perform it yourself. All you need is a bit of DNA material. Saliva would be the easiest to get, Mr. Stark leaves mugs around his workshop all the time.”

“Wha- I- No. Pfff. I didn’t tell you it was Mr. Stark…” the boy sputtered out after almost falling of the roof. “Are you reading my mind, Karen? Did you have some update I’m not aware of?” 

“No Peter, it was just easy to deduce. You don’t want Mr. Stark to hear this conversation and you were getting nervous whenever he called for the last few days. I also run a quick image comparison and your resemblance is pretty high.”

“Huh… Okay, okay…” he took a moment to process everything. He could easily do the paternity test himself, but… “I can’t just steal his DNA like that… It's not right and FRIDAY would catch me for sure, how will I explain it?”

“You still have that biology project for extra credit. Knowledge, Peter, is the ultimate excuse.”

“That sounded sinister, Karen. Could you please chill? And no, I don’t want to initialize the instant kill.”

***

Peter still haven’t decided what to do, but he couldn’t ignore Tony forever if he didn’t want to arise his suspicions. So when saturday came, and with it a planned check up of his suit, he met with Happy and started an anxious ride upstate.

He tried to act normal around Mr. Stark but couldn’t stop himself from looking for something that would answer his doubts. Was that man really his father?

The routine of working together calmed his nerves eventually and he could focus on what Mr. Stark was saying. As they were close to finishing, checking the sound system because of a malfunction Karen reported to cover up their little sabotage, the AI suddenly spoke up.

“Peter, I was supposed to remind you about your biology project. Remember it’s due on monday.”

It was followed by silence as Peter cursed Karen in his thoughts. What was she playing at?

“What’s up with that? You don’t have much time left” Tony said and looked at him curiously. “I can finish on my own if you need to do your homework.” 

“Nah… It’s for extra credit. I don’t have to do it” he really didn’t want to carry on the topic.

“But you once flopped a biology test. You did a night patrol instead of studying? Yeah, I remember that, because May was mad at me later. You could use some extra points” Tony arched an eyebrow at him and kept poking. “Is it more theoretical or practical? You can use the lab downstairs, obviously. I’m not the best with biology, but I could ask somebody to give you a hand. Huh? What do you say?”

Peter fidgeted for a moment before making a decision. There would be no better ocasion to do it. 

“I can do it on my own, but… The project is about comparing two DNA samples. I can use mine of course but I still need a second one” he kept his eyes on Mr. Stark’s hands, anxiously waiting for the response as the man worked on a little piece of his suit.

“No problem. As long as you don’t clone me. The world isn’t ready for another Stark” Tony chuckled and grinned at Peter who stared back wide eyed. “Just go grab few of those sample stick thingies from the lab.”

Three hours later Peter was close to getting the results. He divided his attention between the actual school project, which he was doing manually, and the paternity test that was mostly run by a computer.

It was really a miracle that he got anything done in the time he waited. His heart was beating too fast, his palms were sweaty, his mind fixated on one thing. And he wasn’t even sure what result he wanted to see. 

Well, he knew that deep down, but he didn’t have the courage to admit it even to himself. Better not to get his hopes up.

Peter almost fell of his chair when Mr. Stark walked into the lab. 

“All okay, kid? How much longer do you need?” the man rested on a chair across from him.

“Almost finished” the remaining time shown on the screen was only two minutes and forty seconds now. Tony had the worst timing. “Oh- Do you- Do you need the lab? It’s just a couple more minutes and I will be done” even if Mr. Stark would give Peter anything he asked for, the boy didn’t want to be a bother.

“What? No, no. But dinner is almost ready. You probably could use a break.”

“Did you cook?” the shock made it easier to look straight at Tony. The man didn’t prepare food often and it was mostly breakfast or snacks. They would order take away whenever Peter stayed over. 

“Nope. Pepper is making dinner and I don’t want to suffer alone.” Peter rolled his eyes at that, the woman was actually a good cook compared to May. It just wasn’t the best time to have a dinner with them.

“I’m not really-” the boy started but was quickly interrupted. 

“Of course you are hungry. You’ve been here for hours and, if I know one thing about lab work, you can’t eat while working here. Another example of engineering superiority” he said seriously but winked at Peter jokingly.

“O- Okay. I will be up in five” the boy mentally begged Tony to leave.

“I will wait here. Cooking doesn’t actually relax Pepper, even if she says so.”

Peter hid behind the computer screen, thanking God he wasn’t working on the hologram one or Tony would see everything. There were only seconds left now and the boy looked at Mr. Stark one more time. The man was leisurely browsing on his phone, stretched out on the chair and legs crossed, no idea what an important moment it was.

Then the computer made a little beep and the results were in front of him. Peter held his breath and skimmed through the text, finding the most important part.

“Everything like you wanted it?” Tony was looking at him with interest.

“Yeah- Yeah, I guess so” Peter ordered printing before he deleted everything from the computer. 

He was getting up when he noticed Tony already by the printer. The boy could only look, his body paralyzed and heart trying to get out of his chest, as the man took the freshly printed page, gave it a short glance and walked back to the desk.

Mr. Stark wanted to hand him the paper, but then frowned and snatched it back.

“You are pale as hell, Peter. That’s enough studying for today, you really need a break” with that Tony turned around and walked to the door, the results still in hand. “Come on, you will get this after dinner.”

For a second Peter felt like he might faint, then he quickly gathered his stuff and run after Mr. Stark.

***

He could see the white page laying on the kitchen counter. Face up. 

Of course he didn’t put in either of their names, it also didn’t have a title that would say “Paternity Test” or “Are you my dad?”. But if only Tony gave it more attention, he would for sure know what it was.

Peter scolded himself silently for looking at it once again. Could he be more obvious? 

He tried to focus on the conversation Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts were having, but the best he could do was taking another bite of his dinner. It was rice with grilled vegetables. The boy noticed that but wasn’t able to say anything about the taste. His throat seemed to have shrunken and jaw stiffened and he was barely swallowing. 

He didn’t even notice the confused looks both adults were giving him, or the attempts at including him in the conversation. As soon as they both finished eating he was on his feet.

“Thanks for the dinner. Was great. Have to go. Bye” somehow left his mouth as he got to the kitchen island, grabbed the lone sheet of paper and run for the door.

So much for not acting suspicious. 

***

“The food wasn’t that bad” Pepper said and looked between the door and an almost full plate. “Did you guys had a fight or something? Peter looked terrified when you came back with him from the lab.”

“I honestly don’t know what I did this time, but he was acting different for few days now” Tony rubbed at his eyes and sighed. “Maybe he found out about my deal with May and he doesn’t like it? That’s the only thing I got.”

“You were careful, it can’t be it. And I still think telling him would be better. I bet he would be ecstatic about it.”

They sat in silence for a moment, as if they didn’t want to discuss Peter but couldn’t stop thinking about him. 

“It’s probably just school. Some test coming up that he is stressed about or-” Pepper suddenly stopped and grinned at him with wide eyes. “Oh! I know! It must be a girl! What about that MJ from his birthday? That makes so much sense. Of course he is so anxious and all” the woman giggled at the prospect.

“I’m not sure… Would he really get so worked up because of a girl? Maybe something happened on a patrol, I should check the Baby Monitor.”

“You should change that name before we have a daughter-in-law” Pepper said condemningly before realising her mistake. 

“We? Did you just say we? Oh Ms. Potts, now we have it on! No more one sided teasing! Ha!” Tony pointed a finger at her with a wild smile. “Dad Tony jokes are over! Get ready for Mommy Pepper!”


	3. Boy, I bet I look so grown up; Shirt tucked in my jeans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title - AJR, Call My Dad

‘Got max points on the bio project! Thanks for the contribution ;)’ 

Peter looked at what he wrote once again before hitting send. He really missed talking with his mentor like they used to before. It was of course his fault for ignoring Mr. Stark all the time, not picking up his calls or responding to texts with short and vague answers. But now, as soon as his project got checked, he really needed to share it.

The response came right away.

‘Good job. Wanna grab some pizza after school?’

The boy beamed with pride before sinking down a bit. As much as he would like to hang out with Tony, he didn’t trust himself to act casually around the man. He was still deciding how to go about the paternity test results and wasn’t ready to face Mr. Stark. The last thing he needed was suddenly blurting out the revelation.

***

Patrol that day was quite busy, Peter didn’t even have time for a snack break yet and it was almost time to go home. May would be disappointed if he missed dinner again. She would also get angry if she knew his grades were slowly slipping, he should study more if he didn’t want his curfew to get changed.

Peter was climbing the wall of an apartment building when he heard a kid crying. It wasn’t a ‘buy me this toy or I’m gonna hate you forever’ bawling for attention. It was quiet, nobody else would probably even hear it with the other sounds around, as if the child was trying to pretend they were okay.

It was just natural for him to check what was going on. 

He didn’t know what to expect, but as he looked through the window he froze in shock.

A boy was curled in the corner by kitchen counter. His face was wet with tears streaming from his eyes. A little palm was pressed against his mouth as he tried to muffle the sounds of crying. The kid was looking up with terror in his eyes as a woman angrily approached him and smacked his head. It wasn’t delicate or playful. It was a punishment.

Peter didn’t have to think. He was already opening the window and jumped inside as the woman grabbed the boy’s arm and violently yanked him on his feet.

“Let him go” Peter said and hoped his voice sounded sure.

The woman stopped for a short moment, shocked to see somebody in her kitchen, before making an angry face and pushing the boy his way. Peter crouched quickly, caught the kid before he could tumble to the ground and lifted him up. The boy clinged to him without hesitation, arms going around Peter’s neck, as he settled on his hip.

“You think I’m a bad mother, huh?” the woman was looking at them as she lit a cigarette. “But you would never think this brat is a fucking monster, would you? And I have to bear with him everyday!” 

Her voice was getting louder and Peter could feel the boy clutch to him even harder. He was holding the kid up with one arm, the other gently going over his back.

“He cries all the fucking time! You have any idea how much food that thing needs? He was supposed to grow out of being so damn needy, but he is four and I still can’t even leave him alone for few hours!”

He had to do something. The boy shouldn’t be listening to it all. Peter looked at the window quickly and the woman noticed it with a sneer.

“What? Wanna take him? Go ahead! Just don’t bring him back when you get tired” with that the woman scoffed at them one more time before walking out of the room and closing the door with a loud thump.

The boy shuddered before relaxing a tiny bit. He lifted his head from where it hid in the crook of Peter’s neck and looked up. He wasn’t crying anymore but his face was still wet. His green eyes stared up at Spider-Man full of hope. He blinked few times before murmuring “Please don’t leave me. I will be a good boy”. Peter had no doubts what to do after that.

“Don’t worry buddy. I know you are” he smiled at the boy even though his mask was still on and walked over to the window he came in through. “I have you. And I’m not letting go no matter what, you are safe with me. Just say if it gets too high, okay?”

***

“I might have kidnapped a kid.” 

Those were the first words Tony heard after answering a call from Peter. He was already surprised that the boy called him, but now frowned in shock and took a calming breath. What the hell did his kid got into this time?

“You might have?”

“His mother basically told me to take him! But Karen says it’s not enough because… Well, because laws don’t work like that” he sounded irritated.

“Peter, listen to me. I don’t know what happened, but you can’t just take a kid away from his legal guardian. You have to call police or child services. They will check the situation and find a good solution” Tony said slowly, trying to calm Peter down, but it only did the opposite.

“No! You- You don’t understand, okay? He can’t- Clive is not going back there!” The emotions in Peter’s voice made Tony’s heart ache. “You say I can always ask you for help. Well, I need it now. Please. I won’t ask you for anything ever again. Just please- Please help him.”

The man needed a few deep breaths before he could speak normally.

“Okay Peter, just calm down. Where are you?”

“Some playground in Queens. I told Clive to play so I could call you.”

“Bring him to my Manhattan apartment. Give me your location and I will send a car to pick you up.”

“We can get there on our own. Clive likes the web-swinging” Peter said that almost offhandedly, but stress was back just a moment later. “He can’t go back there.”

***

Peter and the boy were already there when Tony arrived in the apartment. Lounging on the couch, a plate full of pb&j sandwiches balancing on Spider-Man’s lap, their mouths full. The kid, Clive, was practically glued to the teenager’s side, with Peter’s arm around his shoulders.

The moment the teen noticed a man following Tony out of the elevator he visibly tensed up. His arm hugged the boy even tighter, the suit’s eyes narrowed and he stopped chewing.

“Hello boys. Meet Davison, he is my lawyer” Tony quickly said, before Peter would jump to any conclusions, and saw him relaxing slightly but still eyeing the lawyer cautiously. 

Clive only then realised they weren’t alone anymore, too absorbed by the cartoon playing on tv to notice them before. He glanced at the men before looking up at Peter, as soon as the teenager smiled at him and nodded his eyes were back on the screen.

“Spider-Man? Are we going to talk?” Tony had to remind himself to not call the kid by his name.

Peter looked at them and then at Clive who was again looking up at the hero.

“We want to know how the cartoon ends, right Clive?” he said to the boy who nodded vigorously. “Karen, send Mr. Stark the footage. If you could watch it first and we will talk later. Please.”

Tony eyed Peter and the boy once again before leading the lawyer to a small conference room. The message Karen send him included an address, a name, few other details and two video files. 

The first recording wasn’t long. The situation between Spider-Man hearing the cry and leaving the flat with the boy in his arms lasted only few minutes. 

Tony understood that Peter didn’t want Clive to hear it, but possibly the teenager couldn’t stand to watch it again as well. It was rather heartbreaking to see a mother treat her child like that.

After the file ended another one started playing. It must have been from the playground they were at earlier. Spider-Man landed on the ground, very gently comparing to his usual style, and put the boy on his feet. The kid looked up and beamed with excitement, almost jumping in place. Peter crouched to straighten Clive’s ruffled clothes when he noticed a dark spot under his collar and instead pulled the fabric further away. The boy flinched visibly, but didn’t protest. There were few more marks on this little extent of pale skin.

Tony looked at the lawyer askingly. He had his own suspicion, but… Could it really be?

“Cigarette burns. They are not often but still characteristic for psychically abusive homes.” Davison said without hesitation “We need to get him checked up by a doctor. It would have more value in court to have a professional opinion. I can recommend a person I often work with at cases like this. She would come here so we don’t stress the boy with a visit to a hospital.”

“Okay. What about Spider-Man? Will he be in trouble for taking the kid away from her?”

“No, he was obviously acting with the kid’s wellbeing in mind, there are paragraphs for that.”

“Good” the last thing he needed was for Spidey to become a criminal.

They spent few minutes with Davison explaining him shortly the next steps and how long will everything take.

“I will get to work if that’s all, Mr. Stark. Unless there is anything about the Par-” the lawyer got interrupted before he could finish.

“No. Don’t mention the other case for now” Peter might have been using his enhanced hearing and listening on their conversation. He should think about having this room sound proofed.

Tony looked at Peter expectantly when the lawyer left and psyched himself for another conversation.

“Clive, I have to talk with Mr. Stark, okay? It will just be few minutes and then I’m back” Peter said reassuringly but Tony could see the kid clutch on Spider-Man suit with his little fist. “How about…” he started in excited voice and jumped over the back of the couch so he was now standing behind the boy. “Would you keep Karen company? She is really great, you can ask her anything.”

Clive was looking at him but Peter turned the boy to face away before taking of the mask and putting it on him. “Karen, why don’t you show Clive the time we saved that kitten from a tree.” Peter watched the boy until he relaxed a bit and giggled quietly at whatever Karen was showing him.

“I’m so sorry Mr. Stark” he started as soon as the door closed behind him. Tony was leaning against the window and Peter started to pace the room. “You must have been busy, but I didn’t know what to do and- We will help him, right? What did the lawyer say? Is that enough to find him a new home? You understand now that he can’t go back, right? It would be-”

“Peter” the man looked at him sharply until the teenager closed his mouth and stopped pacing around.

“Don’t be sorry, you did the right thing. The woman will lose guardianship for sure. Davison went back to his office to prepare the papers, notify child services and start a case with the court. We will have a doctor come here to check Clive and make an official report. Then a proper worker will take him to-”

“Wait, what? I thought- No.” Peter was shaking his head while still trying to remain calm. Tony frowned at the interruption, the teen didn’t do it often.

“You- You still don’t understand. I don’t want- He can’t get into the system. We are not putting him in foster care. You don’t know-” The man noticed Peter’s hands were clenched into fists now.

“No, I don’t. I don’t understand what are you expecting? This is what happens when you take a minor away from their parents, okay? There are protocols for that, to keep the kid safe. What do you want me to do?” Tony didn’t know what have gotten into Peter. Of course they needed to help the boy, but why was he treating it so personally?

“Can’t he- Can’t he just stay with you? There are empty rooms at the Compound and-” he looked at the man beggingly. 

“Do you even hear yourself? Empty rooms? Peter! He is a child that needs attention and time, what are you talking about?” He tried hard not to snap. 

“I could-”

“No, you couldn’t! You are sixteen for god sake! Are you going to adopt him? What about school? What about Spider-Man?” Tony took a deep breath, walked over to the boy and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Peter, you are practically still a kid yourself. Let me handle this, alright? We will make sure that Clive is safe.”

The look that Peter gave him almost made him shudder.

“Do you know what will happen?” he spoke calmly now, but his voice was clear of any emotion. “Somebody will come and take him to a temporary foster care. It’s an institution that houses dozens of kids waiting for court decisions. He can stay there for a week, but will that be enough? It can take months if his mother puts up a fight. She doesn’t want him, but as a single parent she probably gets alimony and she won’t be happy losing the money. When the week is over he will be placed in a smaller foster home. The case is over, mother lost her rights. What now? You think he would get adopted right away? By a sweet family from the suburbs I suppose? He might be a cute four year old, but that’s still highly doubtful. He gets put into another foster family, one that is ready for his longer stay. But who knows what will happen the next day? Maybe they will transfer him somewhere else. And how long does he stay in that new home before something changes? Does that sound safe?”

By the time he ended Peter’s whole body was shaking and his eyes were filled with tears. He kept his confident stance the whole time, but seemed to be on the edge of crumbling down. Tony wanted to hug the kid, but Peter turned away from him before he had a chance to do it.

The man tried to pull him closer, but the teen dodged him and sat on the floor. A quiet “Leave me alone” coming from behind hands that covered his face.

“Peter, what’s wrong?” Tony was seriously worried now, but at his try to get closer the boy just moved further away until he hit the wall.

“I- I just need- a minute. Could you get- get me my mask back?” his voice was breaking as he stuttered the request out.

Tony had no idea what else to do so he just complied. He left the door to the conference room open, but as he walked back with the Spider-Man’s mask a moment later it was almost closed. A hand reached out and grabbed the mask, not letting him in. He heard Peter’s shaky breath and a quiet “Could you- please- sit with Clive? Just five- five minutes, I swear.” and the door was shut before he could respond.

The man stared at the door for a moment. He was obviously missing some fucking important piece of the puzzle here. What the hell was that? He thought that he was fit to take care of Peter, but something like that happened and he had no idea what to do? The kid pretty much got a panic attack in front of him and he didn’t know what triggered it? Fuck.

Did he have a younger brother that Tony wasn’t aware of?

Was Peter adopted by the Parkers and had another family before?

None of it made any sense. 

He had to call May, but… 

Tony heard some shuffling behind him and turned around to see Clive staring at him. Shit, how could he forgot about the little guy that started it all. The boy was kneeling at the couch and hiding behind the cushions, only his light brown hair and a pair of green eyes visible. 

Well, one thing at a time, he thought and smiled at the kid.

***

He didn’t remember much.

There was a lot of new faces. He didn’t know anyone there. People kept changing.

Crying. There was always some kid crying nearby. Most of them cried at nights.

Questions. They asked him about a lot of things and he didn’t want to talk.

It was just eighteen days back when he was four.

How could it have so much power over him?

He was in the system for only eighteen days, but he wouldn’t wish it to any other child too little to understand why their new home kept changing. Was it because they behaved bad? Were they too noisy? Cried too much or laughed too loud? Why didn’t people like them?

He didn’t want it for Clive. Sweet, quiet, already hurt too much Clive.

He felt the irrational fear that stayed with him forever. A thought that a nice looking lady would come and take him away with a smile on her lips. Again.

Peter tried to even his breathing. He was sitting on the floor, knees against his chest, face hidden in hands. It was years since he last felt so panicked because someone mentioned foster care. That fear was long gone, right? So what was happening?

Who was he afraid for?

Clive? A boy who’s way unforgivingly led into the system.

Or himself? A teenager that got two years left until he become an adult.

He didn’t think about his secret for the last hours, his mind completely absorbed with Clive. But it hit him hard now.

If he acted on the knowledge he had and everything went to shit… If May abandoned him and Mr. Stark didn’t want to take him in… He would be in foster care for almost two years.

He trembled at the realization that he just messed up his case even worse.

Mr. Stark must have thought he was a freak. And an ungrateful and rude one, for that matter. The man wanted to help, got his damn lawyer at the case, invited them to his apartment. And what did Peter do? He yelled at him and asked for more. Shit.

“Get it together Peter” he mumbled to himself. “Come on.”

It took him few minutes but his breath calmed and his body relaxed. He walked around the room to stop the trembling of his legs, put the mask on and opened the door.

Clive was sitting on Tony’s lap and looked with awe at the hologram pictures projected from the man’s phone. Mr. Stark was telling him something and both of them chuckled with laughter.

Peter tried really hard not to think about the past, but seeing the man like that… He wondered if he could have had this as a child. 

He took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders and walked to the couch with an energetic smile. He had to look fine, he really didn’t want to talk about what just happened. Not with Mr. Stark. He bothered him with enough problems already.

***

The teen couldn’t know that Tony had his vitals displayed on the lenses of his glasses just a second ago. He accepted that Peter needed a bit of privacy and space, but was ready to barge into that room if the kid couldn’t calm on his own.

And he really needed to call May and talk about it later, but now… A call from Pepper came and he almost cursed out loud.

“Honey! I’m on my way. I will be there in ten-” he answered and tried to talk over her. It didn’t work. He was silenced for a long moment and used it to gently get Clive off his lap.

“I can explain- Our Spider-” not son Tony, keep it together. “Spider friend needed help. I’m on my way now.”

He stood up and his pointed finger went from Peter to Clive and back. 

“Okay boys. Listen what’s happening. Clive is staying here for the night. Will you be alright on your own?” that question was directed at Peter who nodded right away just as Tony suspected. He probably knew more about taking care of a child than the actual adult in this room. The teen tried a bit too hard to seem okay, but shit, Tony really had to go. “Okay. Don’t go out and don’t stay up late. Eat something and brush your teeth.” Was that enough? Did he forget something important? “If you need something call me. Alright?”

Two nodding heads watched as he run out of the apartment.

***

“Why did he have to go?” Clive was looking up at Spider-Man with a little frown.

Peter hummed thoughtfully. Sure, Mr. Stark was busy most of the time, but there was something about tonight and the fancy suit he was wearing. 

“Oh” Peter sighed with a little relief realising exactly what day it was. He was getting anxious that it was his little freak out moment that scared the man into running away. Thank god that wasn’t true.

“Because it’s a big night for his fiancee!” he collapsed on the couch and ruffled Clive’s hair jokingly. “There is this thing, a gala, very important event, all about woman that have a lot of power and use it for good. And Pepper is one of them.”

“Wow… Will she get a prize?” the boy asked with interest and climbed onto Peter to look at him closely. The spider eyes were so cool.

“Yeah, I bet she will. She got one the last two years. And today is special because she let Mr. Stark go with her. He wasn’t allowed the last two times, so he really needs to be good today.”

“We have to be good too” Clive said seriously.

“Yep.”

“Oh. Oh! Spidey!” the boy suddenly scrambled to get something out of his pocket. It took him a minute, but eventually there was a gold credit card in his little hand. “Mr. Stark said we have to do shopping. Because boys need stuff, that’s what he told me when you were resting.”

“Of course he did” Peter felt like rolling his eyes for a moment, but the man might have been right this time. Clive didn’t even have anything to sleep in, not mentioning a toy or a teddy bear. He definitely needed some stuff.

Hour and a half later their order from the closest supermarket that offered instant delivery was under the door. Just in time for Clive to change into his new Avengers pajamas. Sadly, they didn’t have a Spider-Man one.

Peter dug up a t-shirt and shorts from a closet in a guest bedroom he already used a couple of times. The first one was after he got a concussion on a patrol. Of course Mr. Stark had an alert for that and insisted he had to keep an eye on the teen. Peter tried to get away with having nothing to change into, but the t-shirt and shorts were quickly thrown onto his lap.

Apparently his Spider-Man mask looked funny without the rest of the suit and Clive couldn’t stop laughing. Peter chased the boy through the apartment until they were both out of breath and collapsed back on the couch. Clive fell asleep not long after, his new teddy bear in hand, curled beside Peter as the teen tried to repeat verbs for a spanish quiz the next day.

***

“I forgot the gala was today, wouldn’t bother you if I knew. Sorry I got upset and yelled at you, just a weird day I guess. Thanks for the help.”

Tony got the text from Peter and was about to answer and tell the kid not to be stupid, he did the right thing, shouldn’t be sorry and didn’t have to thank for anything, but just then they arrived at the gala and he needed to focus on Pepper. It was her night and he had to behave.

He filled her in on Clive’s case briefly and she not only let him but ordered to check on the boys through the night. He relied on FRIDAY and asked her what the kids were doing, but at times when the party got slow he brought up the visuals from monitoring to see for himself. Pepper stole a glance or two as well.

When they got back to the apartment after midnight there was almost no sign of anybody being there all evening. The only difference was a little pile of clothes and toys on the coffee table, too small for Tony’s liking.

Afraid of waking the boys up he didn’t go into the guest room, but used the monitoring cameras to check up on them.

The room was filled with soft light of a night lamp. Tony almost ordered FRIDAY to turn it off, but thought better of it. Waking up in a middle of night, in a foreign dark room would be terrible. It was better with the light on. The boys shared the double bed, Clive curled into Peter’s side, the teen’s limbs outstretched in every direction, the mask probably hiding his open mouth.

Tony watched them with fondness for a long moment, before turning the screen off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... We have a little detour from the main story...
> 
> I have no idea how child services actually work.
> 
> Hope you liked it! 


	4. You say I turned out fine; I think I'm still turning out; I hope you stick around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title - AJR, Turning Out

Peter felt the tugging at his wrist, but his eyes didn’t want to open. Why was May waking him up anyway? Did he forget to set his alarm?

“Peter… Come on, Pete… You will be late for school.”

Except that didn’t sound like May…

His eyes snapped open and he sat up, almost head butting Tony. The man dodged at the last second and now grabbed at his heart.

“Good lord, kid” the surprised expression changed into one of amusement. “At least you are awake. You have thirty minutes before Happy is driving you to school. Well, it’s twenty eight now.”

Peter started to get up but eyed the kid still sleeping beside him. “What about Clive?”

“Don’t worry, I will look after him. He will be here when you come back, okay? You can’t miss school. Come on, move, move.”

Fifteen minutes later he was showered and dressed in some clothes he left around in the past. 

“Hello” he greeted Pepper in the kitchen and got himself a bowl of cereal. “Hey! Is that my backpack?” he noticed the bag on the floor.

“Yeah, Tony noticed you didn’t have it here so he send a drone for it” Pepper smiled at him as he sat next to her.

“And you leave it in the weirdest places, kid” Tony walked in, coffee already in hand. “We should do something about it, but now- chop chop! Happy will be here in ten.”

“I could have taken a train” Peter said with his mouth full. “Did you guys have a nice night?”

“I know you could. Do you need lunch money?” Tony said, hoping the answer would change if he asked often enough, but-

“No Mr. Stark, you know I don’t” maybe his weekly budget was already a little thin but he would manage.

“The gala was very enjoyable and we weren’t even that late” Pepper got his attention now.

“Oh. Sorry about that, my fault” Peter felt his ears blushing, he had to pay better attention to dates in the future.

“Oh, no- I didn’t mean it like that, Pete. It was a fashionable late” Pepper winked at him and Tony added “Never come early to a party, kid.”

***

As soon as he got into Happy’s car after school he blurted out a dozen questions about Clive. He didn’t really have a choice, but still felt bad about leaving him. What if the boy felt abandoned by Spider-Man and-

“Shit. I left my suit in the bathroom.”

“Language, kid” Happy said exasperatedly before throwing him a paper bag. “Mr. Stark is thinking about making a line of AI babysitting products. Karen is great with the kid. Ugh, there is two of you now. I meant the new kid.”

“What?” Did they left Clive with Karen for the whole day? 

“Hey, stop with that guilty look, okay? It was just for few minutes, when the lawyer came. Somebody had to occupy the kid and I’m not great at it, you learned that, right kid? Ugh. Kid, kid, kid… There can’t be two of you…”

“You know we have names, right?” Happy’s irritation was getting amusing.

“Of course I do, Paul.” There was a moment of silence, before Happy snorted with laughter.

“Ha ha. Very funny.”

***

Walking into the apartment Peter expected to find Mr. Stark tired and irritated. After all, a day with a four year old wasn’t an easy thing to survive without experience.

What he actually saw was a pleasant surprise.

Clive was sitting on the kitchen counter, legs dangling in the air, as Mr. Stark apparently tried to feed him an apple. A bowl full of half-moon shaped pieces laid on the side. The only problem was Clive shaking with laughter so much that actual eating would probably end with choking. The reason for that became clear as Mr. Stark turned, showing a piece of apple stuck sideways in his mouth.

“Spidey!” the boy almost jumped of the counter, the man catching him in the last moment and putting on the floor so he could run through the room.

“Hey buddy” Peter kneeled to meet the kid for a hug. “Did you have fun with Mr. Stark?”

“Yeah! So much fun! He showed me all the cool stuff and we played with my new toys” Clive was rattling and pulling Peter toward the window, where a bunch of toys was laying around. “But we didn’t build the lego, cause he said you are the lego master. Can we do it now? Please?”

Peter laid on his stomach as Clive sat cross-legged opposite him and they worked on the little lego set. They were on step four when two bowls full of apple pieces appeared beside them. They looked up to see Mr. Stark giving them a categorical stare. Clive reached for an apple first, but Peter followed closely.

The teen didn’t have a chance to ask what was going on with Clive’s case before the boy pulled him away to play, but he felt like they were all waiting for something. He hoped it wouldn’t be a social worker appearing in the door, but was too anxious to ask. He would rather skip another freak out session.

He heard two pairs of footsteps before they even reached the entrance door. Peter recognized Davison’s voice, but the other person remained silent. He couldn’t make himself to turn and look. Instead he glanced up and watched Clive’s reaction. The door opened, two people walked in and stopped. The boy looked at them instinctively, but instead of nervousness or disinterest, his face melted into one of disbelieve.

“Dad?” was mumbled too quietly for anybody but Peter to hear, before Clive was running through the room and yelling the word over and over again.

The man clutched the boy to his chest as if he never wanted to let go again.

“Clive- Oh my god. I can’t believe it’s really you. Dad was looking for you for so long.” The man pulled him away a bit to look at him. Their resemblance was evident. “Look at you, such a big boy. My Clive. You are so brave, sweetheart.”

Peter sat up and looked away as Clive started crying, his father no less emotional. The teen swallowed around the gulp growing in his throat. His gaze fell on Mr. Stark and he noticed the man looking back at him with a faint smile.

“Come on Spidey, let’s give them a moment.”

Peter followed into the conference room after Mr. Stark and his lawyer. He gazed around as both men took a seat at the table before slumping to the floor by the window. His Spider mask, earlier raised so he could eat, got pulled back down, covering everything securely.

“What’s the story?” he asked, looking out at the city and trying to sound excited. Why wasn’t he happy? It couldn’t have turned out better for Clive. He tried to shut his mind off and focus on what the lawyer was saying.

“Researching Clive’s background revealed that his mother had already lost all parental rights. After the boy’s father divorced her and presented evidence that she was abusing their children, he received full custody of Clive and his older sister. But the woman, probably acting in spite, kidnapped the boy and run away. That was nine months ago. Luckily, she didn’t change their name.”

“We of course notified police and she was arrested in her flat couple hours ago” Tony interrupted Davison’s monotone speech. “And Mr. Monroe flew in from Chicago as soon as we reached him. Everything turned out great, right Spidey?”

“He will take Clive back home? Just like that?” Peter asked while mentally reminding himself to breathe. There was nothing to freak out about.

“Well, yes. Clive will be back with his family soon.”

“But what if… Shouldn’t somebody check him? Make sure he will be good for Clive?” It sounded too perfect to be true. Wasn’t something off?

“You saw how the kid reacted, right? Nobody told him who was coming, we weren’t even sure if he remembered the man.”

“What if something changed? Maybe- I don’t know- Just-” Peter sighed with irritation. Why was he trying to ruin it? He needed to calm down.

“We can notify child services, make them aware of the situation. Somebody will pay Clive few visits to make sure everything is fine” the lawyer returned to the conversation. “Mr. Stark?”

“Yeah, do it” was said off handedly. Peter could feel Tony’s gaze on his neck. “We can even visit him ourselves if you want to be sure, Spider-Man.”

Peter just shrugged in response before standing up and going for the door. 

“They probably want to go home now.” 

They did for sure, but Peter wanted to get out of the place even more.

***

The man let Clive embrace his legs and patted the kid on the head. Boy had his dad now, no need for Tony to be all touchy-feely. Peter crouched down for a long hug and at least for a moment it was clear that he was happy for the little guy.

And with a sweet “Thank you, Mr. Stark! Thank you, Spidey!” Clive left in his father’s arms. A boy that they met just a day before, disappearing again.

Tony was setting the last things with the lawyer when he saw Peter putting on his backpack. 

“Where are you going, Spidey? Wait a minute, we need to talk!” he said loudly, before directing Davison again with “We will finish later” and escorting him to the door. 

“Hey! Boss told you to wait” Happy’s voice sounded from across the room and Tony turned to see the man blocking Peter’s way to the balcony. The kid had arms crossed over his chest and was looking up at Happy challengingly, but stayed in place.

“Take the mask off, Underoos. We have to talk” Tony said while crossing the room, trying to sound encouraging and not demanding. The mask stayed on, Peter taking a step back as the man cornered him.

“Come on, kid. Spill the beans. What’s wrong?” He looked into the Spider eyes and resisted the urge to snap the mask off himself. Learning that Peter kept it on just to hide himself and his emotions came early on in their relationship, but he still didn’t have a solution for that.

“Nothing’s wrong. I have a crap load of homework” came defensively with a shrug and his chin raising.

“Crap load, huh?” Tony nodded and wanted to steer him back to the couch, but apparently Peter had different plans.

“Are we done? Cool. Bye” he blurted out. 

Before Tony could argue that they were absolutely not done, the kid smoothly dived under Happy’s arm. Both men missed a heartbeat when Peter jumped over the railing and disappeared, only to be seen swinging away on his web seconds later.

“This kid, boss” Happy shook his head before retreating to the kitchen.

Tony felt a lot like screaming at someone. Peter could be unbelievable at times. And when he decided to leave, especially in the Spider-Man suit, it was nearly impossible to stop him. It didn’t change the fact that kid obviously had something on his mind and should talk about it.

And when did he become the one to talk about things instead of bottling them inside until you burst? Tony had no idea. It might have been around the time he become somewhat responsible for a teen superhero.

“Call May Parker” he said and slumped on the couch feeling defeated.

“What the hell is going on with your nephew?” he sighed when the woman picked up.

“Hello to you too, Tony” she started and he could almost hear the eyeroll. “Peter is a teenager. He has his ups and downs, you know. Maybe his rebellious phase is coming after all” she didn’t sound too worried, but after a moment added “Did something happen or is it just a general question?”

“Well, don’t you feel like there is something on his mind lately? He is always babbling but now he doesn’t want to talk? I need tips, May” he finished in surrender.

“That’s the thing with Peter. He can chatter away for hours and not say anything that actually matters if he doesn’t want to” it was her turn to sigh. 

“We also had a situation yesterday” Tony cleared his throat before continuing. “Long story short, Peter found a boy who was being abused by his mother and took him away from her. I’ve had Davison on the case, to do everything properly, documents, custody, yada yada… But when child services and foster care were mentioned-”

“He panicked, didn’t he” May was calm, but the hint of worry in her voice was evident. “God, it didn’t happen in years. I thought he was over it a long time ago.”

“What happened?” Tony fidgeted with the rim of his sleeve nervously.

“Listen Tony, I have to go now, but I finish work in an hour. We can get a coffee or something and talk then if you got time.”

The man checked the hour and his commitments for rest of the day. His schedule was a bit tight, but he needed to know. 

“How about a ride home from work? I will come with coffee.”

“Sure. You know the address.”

***

Happy drove through the city and Tony instinctively kept looking out and searching for the familiar blue and red figure to appear somewhere between the buildings. He wondered if Peter actually went home to do his homework or was swinging around.

“Fri, show me Baby Monitor in real time.”

Lenses of his glasses were now showing the blue sky, couple of white fluffy clouds hovering in the distance. All he heard in his earpiece were slow and steady breaths, with noises of the city in the background.

“Give me his location.”

The picture become smaller and a map popped up in the corner. Peter was still in Manhattan, apparently lounging on a rooftop near the East River.

“What’s the probability of something like that happening?” Tony heard and the picture changed as the boy sat up, showing Spider-Man’s legs hanging over the edge and the street ten levels down.

“I mean Clive and his father reuniting. What do you think, Karen?” Peter sounded sullen.

“There is not enough data to calculate it, but statistically speaking, it’s extremely low. ” Tony programmed the AI to be always calm and caring, suspecting reassurance would be good for Peter, but the way the two of them communicated and grown together was still surprising and heartwarming.

“Yeah. It’s really low, isn’t it. So something similar happening soon to different people… The chance is even smaller, right?”

“Somebody meeting with their parent after a long time apart, having no previous contact with them? Yes. In situations like that, time is the key. The longer the separation, the smaller chances of reuniting are.”

“And then there might be people who meet after years but the outcome is- not what they wanted.” Tony could see Peter’s hands as he anxiously played with one of his web containers.

“I don’t think predicting reactions of people and the overall result could be measured and put into statistics, Peter. Sometimes you have to trust your instincts and take the risk.”

“You think I’m not a risk taker, Karen?” Peter asked challengingly, in the same time leaning forward and plummeting down through the air.

Tony snapped the glasses of his nose. 

He was the one that could actually fly in his suit and did it for years, but the aerobatics that Peter exploited still made him dizzy more often than not. 

***

“Wait, wait, wait…” Tony grabbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. “You wanted to register as his legal guardians and they took him away because what?”

“Because paperworks basically. Mary and Richard didn’t left any documents that would officially made us responsible for Peter and being his only family wasn’t enough.” 

The conversation paused for a moment as Happy started furiously honking at the car ahead of them. May took a sip of her coffee before continuing.

“He couldn’t stay with us until we had all the legal stuff finalised. We did the best we could, but it still took us eighteen days. Fuck. It was hard for us, but Peter…” The woman took a deep breath. It might have been years ago, but it was still hard to think about.

“At first he was placed in a temporary house. Kids stay there a week max and for some of them that’s all, but… Think about all this children, from toddlers to teenagers, taken away from homes, good or bad it’s always still a home, and put together in one place.”

Tony couldn’t imagine it, all that came to his mind was fear.

“After the first week passed he was transformed to a regular foster home. There was one other kid there. It was for sure a step up, even if it meant a new place and more unfamiliar people, but four days later they moved him again-”

“Are you serious? What the fuck” he didn’t even knew Peter back then, but felt like suing those damn child services.

“Yeah, that family was supposed to take in siblings, but didn’t have enough space so one of the other kids had to be transfered. He spent rest of the time in the third place, but still. That’s a proper trauma for a four year old kid. How do you even explain something like this?”

“Shit” Tony shook his head. No wonder the kid got a fucking panic attack. “I can tell you one thing. You should have told me to buy something stronger to drink.”

May gave him a crooked smile and sipped at her coffee.

“Wanna know what was the worst?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “When we got him back- I thought he was going to feel betrayed and angry at us, but Peter- Peter of course felt guilty. As if he did something wrong. Can you imagine?”

There was a long moment of silence after that, both adults deep in their thoughts.

“What about the attacks?” Tony inquired further. “Was that something frequent?”

“Yeah. It was bad at the beginning. Pretty much every time somebody knocked on our apartment door. Peter was terrified they would take him away again. He would start hyperventilating. We didn’t know what was happening the first few times, but eventually we got the hold of it and it got better with time. He had few other accidents, but those were rare.”

“Accidents like what?” The man wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know, but he needed to. He wouldn’t trigger the kid again just because he wasn’t aware of something.

“The last one was when he was eight. There was a new girl in his class and Peter, being the nice kid he always was, tried to befriend her so she wouldn’t feel alone. When it turned out she lived with a foster family- Well, you can guess what happened. There was too much people around, kids running and screaming. He couldn’t calm down and passed out at the playground. Getting that call from the school was a fucking nightmare.”

Tony couldn’t believe he missed something like this.

He had a whole file with details of Peter’s life before he met him. What schools he went to. The projects he did on science fairs and results from his biology championships. Even his dental record. How did he miss child services?

Well, he never thought to look for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine both May and Tony to be very strict about Peter swearing, but when he is not around... They are practically swear buddies ;p


	5. "No thank you" is what I should've said, I should be in bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title - AJR, Weak
> 
> Fair warning guys, I think this chapter is the most angsty thing I ever written. 
> 
> Thanks a lot for all the comments! It's the best thing ever to read what you think! And great motivation of course :)

“Pete?” May stood in his half open door and smiled at the boy, hunched over textbooks. “Got a surprise for you! You will stay upstate with Tony for the whole weekend. Happy will pick you up tomorrow right after school.”

“What?” was all he said as his eyes grew wide and a pen dropped from his hand.

“I’ll be out of town for the work this weekend, did you forget?” she said turning away.

“But May-” the teen was on his feet right away and followed her to the kitchen. “I can stay here on my own. I’m sixteen, come on” he argued and gave the woman a hopeful look.

“Oh really? Like the last time when I came back and found you all beaten up and sleep deprived? Nope. I’m not leaving you without supervision anytime soon.”

Peter huffed dramatically before collapsing on the kitchen seat and resting his head on the table.

“Besides, I thought you would be excited. You love going to the Compound” she said with a raised brow, but didn’t get any reaction. “Is there something I should know? Tony said you are avoiding him and I didn’t believe, but-”

“Why do you even talk to him?” Peter looked up with irritation. Was there anything he could keep to himself these days?

“He was worried, because you acted strange. Tony cares about you, Peter. What’s wrong with that?” she ruffled his hair lovingly.

“Mr. Stark is a busy man. He shouldn’t have to worry about me” he knew that he sounded like a five year old, whining for no reason, but couldn’t stop it. A huff of laughter from May made him blink in surprise.

“Is Tony ever doing something because he has to and not because he wants to? Huh? The same goes for you, Peter. The two of you are similar like that.”

***

It was exactly why he didn’t want to spent the whole weekend with Mr. Stark. He knew that sooner or later he would say or do something weird and then there won’t be going back from that. And now it happened.

It was still Friday, two whole days at the Compound ahead of him. Mr. Stark was working on something for SI and Peter got his own project going on, a little space cleared for him in the workshop. There was music playing and every once in a while either one of them would share a new observation or grunt with irritation, but it was otherwise quiet. 

So Peter’s thoughts wandered. And in a moment of distraction his body betrayed the mind, spoke up and those terrible words came out.

“Do you have kids?”

Tony stopped his work and looked at the teen with a frown.

“Shit. I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark. I didn’t mean to- It’s not my business-” he babbled, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks and neck. “Forget I said anything. It was just a stupid thing that- I don’t know why-” 

“Easy, kid. Nothing happened” the man was now fully turned to Peter and looked more ashamed than angry. “Past is in the past. You can’t change it” he sighed heavily. “I guess that’s what you are thinking about? My playboy years? Thought you are too young to remember that.”

Peter opened and closed his mouth few times before nodding shortly. It was kind of what he meant.

He remembered seeing Mr. Stark on the front pages of magazines years ago. When he was too innocent to understand and May had to kindly explain why they won’t be buying those papers.

“Women tried to make me the father too many times to count but it never turned out true” Tony shrugged while playing with a screwdriver. “Maybe there is a kid somewhere with my genes that I don’t know about, but… Maybe that’s better. Can’t screw up the kid’s life if you are not in it, right?”

Peter watched the man chuckle, but there was no happiness in it. It looked rather depressing. Tony was turning back to his work, when Peter suddenly had another thought.

“What about Pepper?” he blurted out. Mr. Stark glanced back at him and snorted with laughter when Peter put a hand over his mouth. It sounded honest this time.

“What about her?” he left his work completely now and walked over to the space the teen was occupying. He sat on the desk, picked a little metal piece up and turned it in his fingers.

“Well- I mean- When you guys get married…” Peter mumbled and looked anywhere but at Mr. Stark.

“Oh. No, no… We are not going to have a baby” the possibility amused the man and the teen frowned in surprise.

“Why not?”

“Well… Pepper had her fair share of babysitting already. After all, she took care of me for years… I don’t think a baby was ever one of her dreams.”

“And you?”

The question hung in the air for a moment. Peter was staring at the desk as his body slowly started to tense.

“Nah. Think I’m too old to have a baby running around in diapers and crying all the time. Don’t need that in my life.”

***

“Don’t need that in my life.”

He didn’t. He already had an awesome kid. Sitting right there with him. Why would he want anybody else? 

Maybe they weren’t connected by blood, but what did it change. Neither was Pepper, Happy or Rhodey. And the last one was more like his actual family than his parents, even when they were still alive.

Sure, it would be awesome to take credit for making Peter the incredible person that he was and introduce him as his son, but that simply wasn’t the case.

Tony sighed deeply before giving the kid another look.

“Wait.” Why did Peter look so nervous? Suddenly the talk he had with Pepper last week came to his mind. “You didn’t- Dammit Peter. Say you didn’t knock up some girl.”

The teen blushed furiously and gave him an offended glare.

“What? God! Mr. Stark! Why would you- Of course not! Ehhh. Gross. No!” he almost fell of his chair and stumbled over his feet trying to get further away from Tony.

“Did you have the talk?” the man relaxed now and laughed at Peter’s reaction. A little teasing wouldn’t hurt him. “Are you sexually active? Should we talk about safe sex? I can tell you all about protection!”

Tony shook his head at the teen already out of the workshop and walking away with hands over his ears. The redness on his neck was visible even from the distance.

***

Somehow, after the disaster that was talking about having kids with Mr. Stark, everything went smoothly from there.

Peter wasn’t planning on breaking the news to Mr. Stark this weekend. Wasn’t even sure if he ever would. So he tried his best not to think about it and just enjoy what he had. Tinkering in the workshop. Training. Hanging out. 

Everything was great. Until they sat down for a movie on saturday night.

Tony and Pepper occupied one of the couches, Rhodey was stretched out on another and Peter sat cross legged by the coffee table, so far more interested in the snacks than picking out a movie. He already knew they didn’t want to watch Star Wars.

“What about Lion?” Rhodey was searching on his phone as Pepper went through titles on the tv.

“The Lion King?” Peter said before cramming a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

“No, just Lion. It has six Oscar nominations. ”

“Nominations? So it didn’t get an Oscar?” Tony pointed out and made a dissatisfied face. Rhodey just rolled his eyes at that.

“A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia. 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family” Pepper read out loud, the movie ready to play on the screen.

“Sounds good to me” the teen nodded, another batch of snacks ready in his hand.

“No” sounded through the room in the same moment. Tony’s strict voice made Peter look up, just in time to see the man staring right at him.

It took him a moment. And then it hit him.

Mr. Stark never brought his freak out up again. Peter deliberately ran away from a conversation and the man didn’t scold him for it. He didn’t even mention it. Why?

The popcorn fell out of his hand and onto the carpet.

“She told you.” Peter’s voice was small but Tony heard him. Maybe the man would try to deny it, but the betrayal on the young face made his heart ache and he looked away with guilt.

“What the hell” got Pepper and Rhodey’s attention. They stared at the boy in confusion as he stood up.

“Why do you have to know everything?” he yelled at Tony. “You couldn’t just let it be? You really had to ask her?”

And with a loud grunt Peter was storming of. Pepper and Rhodey looked at Tony then, but he was already going after the boy.

“Peter! Come on, kid” he caught up with the teen by the elevator.

“Leave me alone” Peter was facing away, his fists clenched and voice breaking.

“Don’t do that Pete. I need to know things like that so I can help, okay?” Tony left him some space but was looking at him intently.

“Well, I don’t want you to know about all the ways I’m screwed up” the teen spat out and gave him a furious glare. “But you have to get everything you want, don’t you?”

“You are not screwed up, kid. Calm down.”

“Then why do you think a stupid movie is too much for me, huh? If kids getting adopted would set me off I would have gone completely mental long time ago!”

“Calm down, kid. Just breathe, okay?”

“Don’t tell me to calm down! I’m not panicking for fucks sake! I’m just pissed off!”

“Better zip it right now!” Tony raised his voice and pointed a finger at the teen, keeping the shock out of his face. Peter blushed and turned away. 

The sound of elevator arriving broke the silence after a moment.

“I was going to my room anyway” Peter said feisty and stepped into the elevator. He knew he crossed a line. May would ground him for acting like that.

“Great. We will talk when you lose that attitude” the man added and stared at him until the elevator door closed.

Peter leaned on the wall, arms crossed over his chest and face furious. “Great.” 

His room in the Compound was few times bigger than the one in May’s apartment, but it was still not enough in a moment like this. The teen kept pacing around, like an animal in a cage. He needed space.

There wasn’t a lot of high places to web around here, but there was an enormous stretch of land surrounding the facility. It was better than nothing.

Peter grabbed a hoodie hung over a chair. The man didn’t actually tell him to stay in his room. Or in the building, for that matter. He was just going to take a short walk.

He knew that Mr. Stark had good intentions, obviously. But it didn’t change how furious was Peter feeling. He couldn’t believe May told him, just like that, because he had one small attack after all these years. It wasn’t going to happen again. Tony didn’t need to know the whole story and how messed up he was.

Peter kicked angrily at the gravel, sending multiple pieces flying around. 

He knew that Mr. Stark worried about him. The man told him that often enough, unintentionally making Peter feel guilty. The important question was why and he wasn’t sure about the answer. Because he actually cared? Or simply because he felt responsible?

Peter didn’t want to be just a weight on his conscience.

Don’t need that in my life. 

Exactly. Mr. Stark was a busy man with important work. He didn’t need some kid bothering him with his problems.

Peter stopped in his tracks and looked around. He already crossed the cleared out space surrounding the Compound and was standing at the edge of the forest. He fidgeted in place for a moment before shrugging and continuing his angry stroll. The darkness caused by densely growing trees wouldn’t make much difference for his enhanced sight anyway.

He followed the road for few minutes when a weird sound reached his senses. Why was there music playing in the the forest? The teen shrugged again and turned into a narrow side road, following the song. He really couldn’t care less right now.

It took him almost twenty minutes to reach the origin, the sound slowly getting louder. At some point noises of music were joined by people talking and laughing. There was also a faint glow seeping through the trees.

The light and music were coming from a car parked in the middle of a clearing where couple of roads connected. There were three people there, two guys and a girl, few years older than him. It looked like they were having a good time.

Peter stood in the shadow for a moment, thinking, before taking few steps ahead and clearing his throat. The response was three different reactions of fear and shock.

“What the hell, dude? You scared us shitless!” a guy in a jeans jacket noticed him first and grabbed at his heart with relief as the other two looked Peter up and down.

“Sorry..? Didn't mean to” he shrugged and took another tentative step forward. “What are you drinking?” he noticed empty bottles and cans laying around.

“What’s your name?” the girl asked, leaning back against the car and smiling at him encouragingly. 

“Peter” he realised it was probably a bad idea, but he didn’t feel like overthinking it right now.

“Looks like you could use a drink, Peter” a guy with a baseball cap said and reached inside the car.

The teen effortlessly caught the beer that was thrown at him, but frowned at the keys that followed.

“You should shotgun the first one” came the answer to an unasked question. “It’ll make you chill out quicker.”

“You know how to do it, right?” 

Peter hadn’t done it before, hell, he hadn’t even ever drink a beer at a normal speed. But he saw it on tv. If every average college kid could do it, so could he.

His reflex and strength probably helped a bit and the bitter liquid was soon flowing down his throat, the teen gulping and resisting the urge to breath. The empty can landed on the ground in a flash and he run a hand over his mouth, trying to cover the coughing that followed.

“Good job, man!” the guy in jeans jacket patted his back and pulled him closer to the group with an arm around his shoulder. 

“Here” another beer was pressed into his hand. 

Peter could already feel the alcohol making its way through his system, thanks to his fast metabolism, and he liked the feeling it caused. He relaxed after an hour of his body tensing up in anger and his thoughts drifted away from any important topics. A nice warmth filled his body.

The teen took a deep breath, popped the beer open and listened into the conversation that had been picked up as if nothing strange happened.

***

Tony closed his eyes and shook his head furiously as soon as the elevator closed. He felt like punching a wall or himself. Why did he have to fuck up again? The topic was clearly sensitive, of course Peter wouldn’t want him to know. He wasn’t much better than a stranger after all. Well, subtlety was never his strong side.

He walked back to the living room and tried to ignore the glares Pepper and Rhodey were giving him.

“We can watch something else” the woman tried to discharge the atmosphere with a light tone, but Rhodey wasn’t as perceptive.

“Who was that and what did he do to Peter?” They heard everything as the teen wasn’t exactly whispering. “I never heard him swear before! Didn’t even know he knew words like that! Were you saying bad words around your kid, Tony? That’s not giving a good example.” Rhodey was gesturing wildly, looking between Tony and where the teen disappeared. 

“You know he is not my kid. Stop saying that” Tony was back on his place by Pepper and rubbed angrily at his temples.

“Oh. So every time you ditched me because ‘my kid did something stupid again’ you were referring to another teen superhero under your wings?” he did an incredulous expression. “Anyway, moving on. What did you actually do? He basically treats like you a saint. For him to yell at you was like-”

“Shut up, Rhodes. Can we just watch this fucking movie?” Tony snapped at him before deflating and resting his head on Pepper’s shoulder.

She patted his knee reassuringly and started the movie. Rhodey fought himself for a moment, but eventually gave in with a little snicker.

“Bad influence. Exactly what I was talking about.”

He didn’t catch the pillow that was flung at his head.

The two hour movie passed too quickly for Tony. He was looking at the screen, but the dialog and plot didn’t reach his head. His thoughts drifted dangerously close to his own childhood and Howard.

As if sensing his discomfort nobody got up when the credits started to roll. Rhodey took the control over tv and they spent another hour or so watching stupid videos on youtube.

By the time they noticed midnight passed Tony didn’t feel so bad anymore, although the prospect of talking with Peter in the morning was still itching at his conscience. He didn’t know how to reprimand the kid without scaring him away.

As they started to get up from the couches he asked FRIDAY for a check up on the teen. The answer wasn’t what he expected.

“Do you have a glitch Fri? I asked what Peter is doing? Is he still up or he went to sleep?”

“Like I said, sir, Peter left the perimeter two hours and forty seven minutes ago and didn’t return yet.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tony already had his phone in hand and was pulling up the vitals from Spider-Man suit, only to see it was off and still in his workshop.

“You never said to not let him out, sir. His heartbeat was high when he left, a walk and fresh air was a good solution for that.”

“Well, make it a thing now. He can’t just walk out in the middle of night. This fu-” Rhodey gave him a look. “Freaking punk. Give me his phone location.”

The little dot that appeared on a map was few miles away from the Compound, in the middle of forest.

“What is he doing there?” Pepper looked over his shoulder with concern.

“Guess I have to go and find out” Tony got up and dialed Peter’s number.

“Want me to go with you?” Rhodes proposed getting up, but sat back down at the response.

“You said it yourself, Rhodey. He is my kid.”

***

Peter knew that the buzzing in his pocket could only mean one thing. And after all the beers he drunk, he probably shouldn’t answer it.

His metabolism might have been fast, but as Peter kept pouring beer into his body, it simply couldn’t keep up with getting rid of it. As a result he felt the slight dizziness in his head that made everything seem funny and his words were slurred a tiny bit. He was still standing steady though. Well, he was steadily leaning against the car.

“Hello” he managed to get the phone out after few rings. Normally he would be terrified, knowing that he did something irresponsible and Mr. Stark found out, but the alcohol was flowing in his veins and it wasn’t called liquid courage for nothing.

“Where the hell are you?” the man’s voice was irritated but leveled.

“I’m gonna take a guess… that you already know that… So why are asking?” he sneered cracking up. “Also… I have no idea… At all.”

“Are you- No way” Tony suddenly sounded much more angry, not that Peter noticed. “You better not be drunk when I get there.”

“Am not” the boy looked at the bottle in his hand and eye-rolled.

He laughed together with the others at something he didn’t even hear.

“Who else is there? What are you doing?”

“Oh- I don’t know… Met them today… We are hanging out and-” he got interrupted by a hiccup and unthinkingly took a sip from the bottle.

“Did you just drink something? Dammit Peter! Put it down!”

“Well, see you in… what, ten minutes? See you soon, I guess” and with that Peter ended the call.

Mr. Stark was there four minutes later.

Peter could hear the car coming. Maybe not as soon as he should have, but still. His company on the other hand got scared once again when an audi came from around the corner and lights blinded them for a moment.

The car stopped beside the group and a window on passenger side opened. 

“Get in. Now” the voice was dangerously low, but once again, the teen wasn’t sober enough to make a good decision.

The three friends eyed each other, trying to decide if the situation was too weird and they should flee from the place. But Peter didn’t pay the car much attention, as he rolled his eyes before taking the bottle up to his lips and downing the rest of the beer.

He heard the door opening and shocked gasps coming from around him. He finished the drink in time to see Mr. Stark approaching in long strides.

“What are you doing?” Peter said it in such an offhanded voice that Tony actually stopped and snorted. 

“Sorry- What was that? What am I doing?!” he threw his arms into the air. “What are you doing?!” 

“You are not my father, so… What do you care?” he shrugged and watched as Tony put his arms down. The man stared at him for a second before his face turned bitter and he took the last few steps. The teen sighed as the bottle was taken out of his hand and dumped on the ground.

The grip on his arm was probably the only reason he didn’t fall face first on the ground when he lost the support of the car behind. He didn’t have much to say as the man guided him to the passenger seat and closed his door.

“Get out of here before I call the police. And clean up the bottles” was said in the low voice as the man walked around the car and got in. 

Peter waved through the still open window and managed to shout “Bye guys” as the audi drove away.

“What the hell were you thinking, Peter?” started right after that. Tony was calmer, because he had the kid with him now, but also internally livid at what happened. 

“The number of stupid things you did tonight- I don’t even know where to start-”

“Then don’t” Peter shrugged looking out of the window.

“Better change that attitude” the man said through gritted teeth. “You are already in so much trouble.”

“Says you and- You are not my father Tony” the teen stated matter of factly. 

“Woah. Now you call me Tony, huh?” the smirk on his face was murderous and would terrify Peter if the boy was paying attention. “Great. Just fu- freaking great.”

There was a moment of silence, before the car stopped abruptly and Peter noticed they were already back at the Compound. He followed Mr. Stark with his dizzy gaze as the man got out of the car and opened Peter’s door few seconds later.

“Get out” he said with resignation.

It took the teen a long moment to get his legs on the ground and stand up without hitting his head. When he eventually caught a rough balance he let go of the car and, step by step, slowly reached the main door.

***

Tony wanted nothing more than to put the kid straight to bed, so he could go and be angry somewhere else. Obviously, Peter didn’t feel like it and stumbled out of the elevator on the common floor, determined to eat something. The man was ready to catch the kid before he could fall, but Peter got his balance back and was confidently walking to the kitchen.

“Hey guys” only after teen’s slurring did he notice Pepper and Rhodey watching them in shock. Like he needed that right now.

Peter found his way to the snack cabinet and was doing his best to open a bag of chips. 

“Tony- Is he drunk?” eventually came in Peppers concerned voice as she got closer and poured a glass of water for Peter.

“Am not” was mumbled as the teen looked at them all with a childish pout on his face. 

“Somebody’s gonna be in trouble” Rhodey found it kind of amusing. He noticed Tony kept a distance from the teen so walked closer himself, taking pity in his unsuccessful tries and opened the bag for him. 

“Nice” was all Peter said before munching on a handful of chips.

“Great. Go to your room now” Tony couldn’t stand it much longer without snapping. 

“Cause you say so Tony?” the teen started and he braced for what must have been coming next. “You are not my father.”

“Yeah, he calls me Tony now” he addressed Pepper and Rhodey, who were shocked into silence, with mock laughter. But then he had to look at Peter and manage the situation. The teen stared back at him challengingly.

“I know. Heard you loud and clear the first two times” Tony did his best to sound nonchalant. “But you are under my roof, so better take your brat-self to its room. Now.” God, he sounded so lame. He held Peter’s gaze until the teen huffed with irritation.

“Yes, sir” he answered sarcastically before abandoning the bag of chips and walking away, focused on keeping his balance.

Tony slammed his hands on the kitchen counter as soon as the elevator closed.

“Fuck.” He took few deep breaths before casting a sideways glance at Pepper and Rhodes. “Don’t even try talking to me right now.”

The man took out his phone and pulled up the monitoring. Right in time to see Peter stumble out of the elevator and slowly make his way down the corridor. Head low, hand kept on a wall for support. The teen got to his room and collapsed down on the bed.

Tony waited few more minutes before grabbing a glass of water and aspirin.

***

It was the worst ride home he had ever had.

Stuck in the car with Mr. Stark. Neither saying a word.

Shit. He screwed up so fucking bad.

Peter woke up with a raging headache. Only the water and aspirin waiting at his desk convinced him to get up. But as soon as he started to remember what happened last night, he felt like getting back in the bed and hiding there forever.

What was wrong with him?

Sure, he was furious at Mr. Stark… Well, he was mainly embarrassed, but it was easier to be angry than admit his weakness. The walk was supposed to calm him down and then… Eh.

He did his freaking best to scare Mr. Stark away. As if trying to convince the man that being his father would be awful.

You are not my father.

How could he have said that? He cringed at just the thought. His drunk self did the exact opposite of what he really wanted.

After taking a soberingly cold shower Peter stayed in his room as long as he could, but eventually his stomach rumbling became to much. Stepping out of the room felt like a suicide mission. What was he supposed to say when he saw Mr. Stark? How do you even apologise for something like that? Would he yell at him? Call May? Take away his suit?

Peter couldn’t imagine something worse happening.

He was quickly proved wrong.

The teen didn’t see Tony the whole day.

He sat in the kitchen. Spent some time in the common living room. Somehow found the courage to check the workshop.

Nothing.

Visiting the private floor of Mr. Stark and Pepper felt like too much. He didn’t have the guts to ask FRIDAY either.

Eventually he just went back to his room.

Peter started to wonder how would he get back to Queens, when FRIDAY addressed him.

“Mr. Stark will drive you back home. Be outside in twenty minutes.”

He had a feeling that even the AI was mad at him. And he couldn’t really blame her.

The unspoken tension in the car was suffocating. Peter was close to speaking and apologising many times, but his mouth didn’t cooperate.

He would rather have Mr. Stark yell at him and list all the stupid things he have done than sit in silence like that.

When, after what felt like eternity, they arrived in Queens, Peter wanted nothing more than get out and hide for the rest of his life. 

But that was when Mr. Stark eventually said something. 

“Listen Peter. I don’t know what’s going on with you lately” his voice was calm.

“But I know there is something on your mind and you need to work it out. I would really like to help but you are not letting me and maybe- maybe I am the problem.” His fingers clutched on the steering wheel. 

“So I’m going to take a step back for few days. Give you space and time to process- whatever it is- on your own. Then we can meet and decide if- if you want to see me around- or if I should keep my distance.”

Peter held his breath for a long moment.

“Just to be clear- So you don’t have another thing to overanalyze and come to stupid conclusions. I like having you in the Compound. Working with you and- hell, just spending time together, okay? But not when it makes you all nervous and miserable.”

It was the first time this day that Mr. Stark actually looked at him. There was no anger in his eyes. Just sadness.

“Do we have a deal?”

Peter simply nodded and got out of the car. He had a lot to think through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... Poor Tony! :(
> 
> I just started writing the next chapter, so it's not going to be out tomorrow. I will do my best to have it done some time around the weekend, but no promises.


	6. And now after it all, I just really wanna call; My dad, my dad; I feel so broke up, I wanna go home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title - Call My Dad, AJR
> 
> Sorry I kept you waiting guys and thanks for the patience! Here it is now!

Tony remembered clearly when he learned about the spider themed vigilante. It was one of those days when he tried to get a good night sleep and went to bed early. But before he could even lay down properly a report from FRIDAY popped up on his phone.

His AI was tasked with searching the web for any unnatural occurrences. And somebody catching a moving car definitely fitted into that category.

It wasn’t what he expected to see when he created this protocol. The so called Spider-Man wasn’t a threat. He wanted to help. Maybe his way of doing so seemed rather chaotic and amateurish, but the guy got him interested.

The engineer started running calculations in his head without even getting up from the bed. The weights this guy could lift. How fast he was. His web’s tensile strength. Tony was pretty impressed.

But seeing what the man was wearing made him cringe and start thinking about a proper suit. How to upgrade his web shooters. What gadgets could he use. And how was that web made, because seriously.

And then a few days later he found out his true identity. Peter Parker. Spider-Man was no man. He was a high-schooler running around in sweats and fighting bad guys with nothing but his webs. The numbers didn’t tell Tony much, he was clueless about what was usual in this age. God knows what he did as a teen wasn’t normal.

That was when he really started to work on the suit. Some of the combat functions he planned before were quickly forgotten. And many new ones came up. A parachute was high on the list, together with a tracker. New protocols were popping up in his mind all the time, day or night, and he soon found himself constructing an AI that would follow them all. It was the most fun side project he did in years.

And then Vienna happened and everything went to shit. 

Tony was keeping an eye on both, Spider-Man and Peter Parker. Covering some of his tracks and getting rid of the things that led him to the boy. He knew the teen wanted to do good, help people.

Seeing photos and watching the video footage didn’t prepare him for actually meeting Peter Parker at all.

He was just a kid.

An overexcited smartass that worried about school like it was the most important thing in his life. A kid that got into something way over his head. 

Tony should have lectured the boy. Scold him so hard that he would get scared. Give Peter an actual internship to keep him occupied. Do anything to guide this precious boy away from a superhero path.

But he was backed against a wall and needed all the help he could get. He also saw the determination in Peter’s eyes that he knew too damn well. No yelling or begging would change this kid’s mind, when he clearly already decided on what he had to do.

So Tony asked him to come and did his best to keep the kid as safe as possible. The suit was the first step, assigning Happy to the boy the second, maybe not the most successful. Listening to the reports that Peter left on voicemail quickly became a thing he did every night. The teen’s rambling playing in the background as he tinkered or took a break from paperwork.

And now, after months of keeping in touch with Peter everyday and the boy becoming a new constant in his life, he voluntarily offered to take a step back. 

A step back?

Why the hell did he think it was a good idea? He already felt starved of information after the two weeks when Peter tried to ignore him. And now he had to be okay with even less?

He knew Peter needed it. Or at least he hoped it would help and everything would be back to normal soon, but… It was freakingly hard to just let the kid be.

Just on Monday he was about to text him some random stuff before even realising what he was doing, not once or twice but four times, just before lunch. He told FRIDAY to not contact Peter without a second confirmation. 

Tuesday wasn’t much better as he used the Baby Monitor to watch Spider-Man patrol the streets. The boy took a nasty fall while going after robbers and Tony was ready to call him right away. But he took few deep breaths, sat down and observed Peter’s vitals. The kid wasn’t in danger. He didn’t break anything and there was no trace of any head trauma. He would just have few bruises and his body healed them in a flash.

By Wednesday he started cursing himself for not setting the date right away. How long would Peter take before contacting him? Would it be more than a week?

Thankfully for his sanity a text from Peter came that evening. He got so caught up in his work, trying to distract himself, that he didn’t hear FRIDAY until the third time she said it. And then he was scrambling to find his phone between all the papers on his desk and opened the message without thinking about what it could say.

***

It was an important day. So freakingly important that Peter felt kind of dizzy just thinking about it. But he was gonna do it. He made a decision. No matter what would happen, he was going to tell Mr. Stark the truth.

And why did he think something bad was going to happen?

Mr. Stark liked to have him around. He said it himself, even though he for sure was pissed at Peter for his reckless and childish behavior. 

Yeah. It was gonna be fine.

Did it make a difference if they spent time together as mentor and protege or father and son? 

Pffff. Nah.

Even if the man specifically said he didn’t want children?

Before Peter’s anxiety could hit him full speed, he noticed Mrs. Warren standing beside his desk and looking at him expectantly.

“You still with us, Mr. Parker?” she said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, yes… Sorry” he gave her an apologetic smile and was surprised to get a kind smirk in return.

“I’m glad to see you back on top of the class, Peter” the teacher said and put a marked test in front of him. A 100% written in red made him huff with amazement. Max points in physics? 

Well, wasn’t that a good sign for the rest of the day?

He found out soon enough that it wasn’t a good sign for the next thirty minutes.

Physics was his last class before lunch break, but he didn’t make it to cafeteria that day.

“No wonder Parker got max points” he heard a nasty sneer behind him and knew right away that Flash wasn’t happy with his own grade. He wouldn’t bother otherwise.

“Penis Parker! Wait up!” the boy was closer now, but Peter kept walking forward, acting as if he didn’t hear. If he would just ignore it and-

“You don’t have anything better to do than studying all day, right? What would you do? Family dinner? Ha. Good luck with that!” he laughed out loud and patted Peter’s back, catching up with him.

Peter blinked and his step faltered but he kept on walking. Flash was just being a jealous idiot. Whatever he said didn’t matter.

“I bet your father is going to be proud of you! Top of the class! Oh, right... You don’t have a father. You’re just a sad little orphan.”

He kept his head low and gritted his teeth, not letting the hand on his shoulder stop him.

“But to be honest… Who would even want a son like this? Huh, Parker? Maybe it’s for the best that your father doesn’t have to-”

Flash was abruptly cut off as Peter turned around and pushed at his chest. It wasn’t Spider-Man strong. Just enough to send the bully stumbling back and falling on his ass in the middle of the corridor.

Peter knew he shouldn’t have done it. He was used to the insults and slurs from his classmate and intentionally didn’t ever fight back. If he did, Flash would find another scrawny kid to taunt. He wouldn’t make somebody else a target because he couldn’t take few harsh words.

But today… When he was just hours away from talking to Mr. Stark... Hearing things like that was just too much. Of course Flash would say anything to hurt him, but… What if there was some truth in it? What if his father didn’t want anything to do with him? What if-

Deep in his thoughts and with anxiety ready to take over, Peter missed the split moment when Flash got back on his feet and launched himself at the other boy.

All air left his lungs as his back hit the wall. He would have slid down to the floor if Flash didn’t grab on his shirt and firmly hold him in place.

“What the fuck was that, Parker?” was shouted into his face. The teen held his strength back now but it looked like the push was enough to send Flash into a real rage. The few people around who snickered at his fall didn’t help the matter. The bully had a reputation to uphold and a school loser winning wasn’t a part of it.

Peter saw the fist coming but it was still a surprise. Usually the insults and a nasty push every now and then was enough to keep Flash satisfied. He rarely got this physical.

But there it was. A punch landed on his cheekbone and a second one followed right away. He barely took a proper breath when his stomach met with a knee and he doubled over.

“You are a useless piece of shit” came before Flash was pulling him back up by his shirt. “Nobody wants you” another punch to his face. “Your poor aunt would give you away if she could” was followed by being pushed at the wall once more.

“No father would ever want someone like you” Flash spat out before he punched Peter one more time, let him fall to the floor and stormed off.

Peter didn’t wait for a teacher to see him and start asking questions. He quickly gathered himself from the floor and headed for the back exit, doing his best to stay unnoticed and thanking god Ned and MJ weren’t around. They wouldn’t just let it be. And maybe he should have said something, but… Just not today.

Even if Flash’s punches were surprisingly strong, they were still just punches. Peter was used to getting beaten up, no big deal. The things he said on the other hand… That was what really hurt him. 

He would go crazy if he didn’t talk to Mr. Stark soon. He couldn’t live with this doubt and weight on his conscience any longer. 

***

“Dude! I saw Flash with freaking blood on his fist?! And you go all MIA? What the hell happened? Where are you? Did he beat you up?” Ned’s worried chatter came as soon as he answered the call.

“I’m- I’m on a train” Peter said when his friend stopped, trying his best to not sound as shaken as he felt.

“Train? Why? Did he really punch you?! What the hell, dude! You have to tell someone! What if May asks me what happened? You know I can not lie to your aunt!”

“What are you talking about, Ned? Why would she ask you?” Peter curled even more into the corner seat he was occupying, trying to focus on whatever Ned was babbling about.

“What about classes, man? We still have chemistry and spanish and-”

“Dude- I just- I can’t right now, okay? I’m gonna- We will talk tomorrow, Ned” he really couldn’t reason with his friend right now. His mind felt too messed up and he was busy forcing himself not to cry. He hung up before his friend could say anything more.

***

“Sir, you have a missed call from Peter.”

Tony just got out of a too long conversation with some science company head that he didn’t want to take in the first place.

“Peter?” he mused under his breath and called back right away. The kid should still be in school, Tony was supposed to pick him up after classes. Why would the teen be calling him now?

“Mr. Stark? Hey-” came immediately, but something was off. Did he hear sniffling? His heart rate picked up faster than he could say anything.

“What’s going on Peter?” he automatically pulled up Spider-Man stats even though he would have known if the kid went on patrol rather than to school. There was a protocol for that, obviously.

“Oh- Um. I was wondering- Can we-” there was a short moment of silence, before “Are you busy? Can we talk?” followed by a sharp intake of breath.

“Are you hurt?” was the first thing that came to his mind. Did Peter go out in his old suit and something happened?

“No no no- I’m okay- I just need to tell you- Because-” the boy was mumbling again and Tony didn’t miss the barely audible wheezes. Was Peter crying?

Checking his phone location confused the man even more. Apparently the kid was only minutes away from Tony’s apartment.

“Peter, I see where you are. What are you- Why are you waiting there?” He didn’t even bother to ask why the kid wasn’t at school. He would take care of that once he knew Peter was safe and fine. 

“Well- I wasn’t sure if you were in- And didn’t know if you got time now- You were on your phone- I can wait if you are busy-” he couldn’t remember Peter ever sounding so miserable, even if he did try to hide it.

“I’m not busy. It was just a stupid phone call. Get in here, kid. Why did you wait outside? Do I need to come for you?” he did his best to sound calm, but was freaking out inside. What the fuck happened to shaken Peter this badly?

“No, no- I’m coming-”

Tony heard one last sniff before the call ended. He nervously paced across the room few times before changing his mind and getting into the elevator. The little dot on his screen was moving and disappeared into the building just as he reached ground level.

Suddenly he was face to face with Peter and had no idea what to say.

He had seen Spider-Man hurt much more times than he would have liked. But that was different. Standing there wasn’t a hero. Super in a lot of ways, it was still just Peter Parker. A highschool kid. And he didn’t look good. 

The hood on his head and shoulders hunched low did little to hide his state. Most of the left side of his face was swollen and dark red, parts of it already turning purple. The bruise spread from his jaw to cheekbone. Fortunately it didn’t reach his eye, but they were both puffy and red for a different reason. His nose didn’t look too bad, it for sure wasn’t broken, but probably took a punch as well if the crimson of dried blood between his nostrils and upper lip was anything to go by. Even his clothes shown signs of distress. There were evident creases where somebody must have grasped the material, a single rip at the collar of his shirt and dark spots of blood on it.

Peter startled when he saw the man. His eyes widened before he averted his gaze and sniffed. And then, fraction of second later, he practically fell into Tony. His forehead rested on the man’s shoulder, his hands still in the pockets of his hoodie.

Tony embraced the teen instinctively, one arm holding Peter close and a hand cradling his head. The elevator closed and started moving up. 

“Hey, hey… It’s okay” he whispered soothingly, while his mind was going crazy. Who the fuck dared to hurt his kid like that.

***

Tony let his hands clench into fists for a short moment, banging them against the countertop before regaining his composure. He felt like shouting and screaming until he found out everything he wanted and punished whoever was guilty. But he had learned in the past it was the worst way to handle Peter. He needed to stay calm.

The man took a deep breath, grabbed an ice pack and went back to the living room where he left Peter on the couch. He sat on the coffee table to face the boy. 

“So...” he said calmly and passed him the ice.

“So?” Peter’s voice was hoarse. “Oh” the realisation showed at his face and he blushed slightly. “It’s nothing- Not important- I’m fine, really- But I have to-”

“You are fine?” Tony’s stutter interrupted. “We really need to work on what classifies as fine to you. How in hell is this fine?”

“Mr. Stark- It’s really nothing- I have something else-”

“No Peter! You are not changing the subject” the boy slumped into the couch at that, his mouth opening and closing few times but no words getting out. “Come on, what happened? You’ve been jumped? Saw a robbery and wanted to help? Give me anything, kid… Why did you skip classes in the first place?”

The last question made Peter look down sheepishly and Tony paused in consternation.

“Wait… Did it happen at school?” the kid’s silence was enough of an answer and Tony saw red for a moment. What the fuck.

“Okay Peter, last chance. Tell me who did it or I’m hacking into the school monitoring system right now” he took out his phone looking at the boy expectantly.

“Mr. Stark-” he whined but Tony only arched a brow at him. “He’s just a jealous kid that gets angry when I have better grades than him” the teen said shamefully to the floor before abandoning the ice pack and looking at the man pleadingly. “It doesn’t matter! I can handle it! We have to talk about-”

“You don’t seriously believe I’ll just leave it like that? You can’t learn in a place where you are being abused for your knowledge! This asshole can pack his stuff, because-”

“You are my father” was said suddenly, almost too silent for him to hear. Tony didn’t tense up, he suspected it was coming and wouldn’t let it affect him.

“It doesn’t matter! I won’t watch as you let some asshole- Wait- What?” it took him a moment to realise Peter didn’t say quite what he expected. His mouth hung open and the boy used the moment to repeat himself.

“You are my father” those brown puppy eyes were looking up at him full of fear. “I found out after my birthday” was stuttered out in the silence that grown heavy.

Tony was frozen in shock.

His thoughts raced a mile a minute and all he could do was stare at Peter. He saw the boy’s mouth move at impossible speed, chattering away, but no words were getting through to him.

He was Peter’s father?

***

“You are my father” left his mouth a second time as he looked at Mr. Stark and tried to conceal the panic growing inside him. “I found out after my birthday” he stuttered as if trying to justify the revelation.

Peter stilled for a moment waiting for a response. A nod of acceptance. Hum of acknowledgement. Yell of surprise. Sneer of discontent. Anything.

But as seconds passed and there was no reaction at all, he felt the trembling inside him grow stronger, his breath coming in short pants.

“I know it’s not- You don’t need that- There is so much important stuff you have to worry about- And I don’t want to be a bother- I swear- If you could just- I’m so sorry- It’s my fault- I could have kept it a secret- But I- I just couldn’t- I’m too weak to do that and- I need you- It’s stupid, but I really need you- Oh God- If you could just- Bare with me for two years and then- Then it wouldn’t matter so much- God- Why did I mess it up- I’m sorry- I don’t want anything from you- I swear- Just- Just be- I don’t know- Oh God- What am I doing-”

As his mad chatter started his gaze dropped from the shocked face in front of him to the floor. He could feel the tears building up furiously in his eyes, like he hadn’t already cried that day. His throat clenched tightly every few words and it was hard to say anything with actual sense.

He didn’t dare to look at Tony. What if he was mad? What if he hated him now? Oh God.

Peter turned to the side suddenly and dug in his backpack. The least he could do was show Mr. Stark the evidence so the man didn’t think he was lying. 

He found the letter first and threw it at Tony’s lap, not even checking if the man caught it. The page with result of the paternity test was treated the same way. Peter practically shaking with it’s weight gone. Last up was the box with his baby photo and articles about Mr. Stark. He struggled to get it out for a moment and wanted to put it on the coffee table, but misjudged the distance in the haze covering his mind. The box stumbled down and opened, pieces of paper flying up into air before settling on the floor between their feet.

***

It took him a moment to silence the storm happening in his mind. And when he did another thought hit him. 

He just fucked up the first minutes of being a father.

There were papers in his hand and something scattered across the floor and Peter… 

Peter was hunched over, elbows on knees, face hidden behind hands, the bruises forgotten. His whole body was moving with violent trembles. Breaths coming in and out in wheezes.

Tony was on the couch in an instant. Cradling the shaking boy to his chest and breathing in deeply and slowly so he would feel it.

“Peter” he started softly when he found his voice again. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me. And this is so much more than I could ask for” the boy was slowly relaxing, his breath evening out. “I’ve been thinking of you as my son for months. You can’t imagine how many times I almost said that to you, but was terrified to scare you away. I couldn’t believe somebody would actually want me as a father. Especially somebody as amazing as you.”

Peter practically melted into him by this point and Tony made a break to get the messy strands out of his wet eyes before continuing.

“I’m sorry that I gave you any reasons to doubt that. I’m so grateful that you told me. God Peter. You know I’m probably gonna fuck up-” he closed his eyes cringing. “Like I did just now- Don’t ever repeat after me, kid” Peter let out a small chuckle and Tony couldn’t help but smirk. 

“There is a lot of stuff we have to figure out, but I will do my best. I promise” he stated confidently, giving the boy in his arms a squeeze.

“And if-” came a tiny whisper a moment later, hand clutching on Tony’s shirt. “If May tells me to leave- I can stay with you?” the hesitation in his voice made the man hold him closer.

“Leave?” he frowned in surprise. “Peter, I can assure you May would never ask you to leave.”

“I’m not her family- You don’t know-” he felt the boy tense up once more.

“Kid, if there is one thing I can teach you it’s that family has very little to do with blood.”

“But what if-” the teen tried again, but Tony didn’t let him finish. He shouldn’t be even thinking this way.

“Okay. I guess it’s time to tell you something. We kept it a secret, because I didn’t want to freak you out, if you thought I was crossing a line, but- Well...” he took a deep breath and caressed Peter’s hair, calming the boy as much as himself before speaking.

“Since you and May only got each other, if something were to happen- And I know you will be an adult in two years and nothing is going to happen. But you know, just in case- It would be better for you to have a second guardian. Like- Before rather than after, because it takes a lot of paperwork and time- And well. I asked May if she would agree to me being that person” he was still kind of nervous about how will Peter take it, even if it didn’t matter anymore.

“I’ve had to convince her for a month to even consider it. She agreed eventually, under many conditions- It was six weeks ago and we are still stuck with paperwork. And why?” he made a short pause to get Peter’s attention on what he needed to hear.

“Because she thinks I’m gonna somehow rule her out, take you upstate and never let you come back” there was a light tone in his voice, the idea was ridiculous, but not enough for Peter to think he was joking.

“Or that you would find out, drop out of school and choose to be Spider-Man full time. Like I would let you do that...” he added offhandedly. He didn’t want the kid to get any stupid ideas.

“So yeah. I know she would never ask you to leave, Peter. No need to worry about that” he finished convincingly.

“Really?” Peter just then sat up and was looking straight at Tony.

“Yes. She won’t ever-” the man repeated with a nod but was quickly interrupted. 

“You wanted to do that? Be my guardian? Just- Just like that?” the kid stared at him with wide eyes.

“Yeah. Of course, Peter. Yes. Why would you doubt that?” he said with a raised brow and got an incredulous look in return, as if the answer was obvious.

“I’m a problem. You have to deal with my issues all the time and I make you worry. I’m just a bother you have to take care of. Why would you want that?” Peter listed out and Tony could feel him slowly move away with every word. 

“Wow. You better stop saying such bullshit or I will have to ground you, young man. I’m your father, I can definitely do that now” he reacted with irony at first, but quickly changed his tone to more honest. “Seriously Peter. Never ever think you are a bother to me. I worry, sure, but that’s because I care. It’s my choice. Alright?”

Peter just stared back at him blankly.

“I’m gonna need a yes on that, kid” he prompted in the silence with a raised eyebrow.

Peter’s answer was better than he could ever imagine. The boy flung his arms around Tony’s neck hugging him tightly.

“Thanks Dad” was said quietly, but with heartwarming confidence and suddenly there was a weird gulp in Tony’s throat. 

“Sure thing, Son” might have sounded a bit rough, but he wouldn’t leave Peter waiting again.

***

Tony didn’t remember Mary Parker, but right now he felt extremely pissed off at her.

It wasn’t just that she deprived him the possibility to watch Peter grow up and help raise him. 

The woman knowingly went off, got herself and her husband killed, and decided that Peter shouldn’t know his father for another twelve years. What the fuck.

The letter in his hand was creased and with spots of dried tears. He would gladly rip it into pieces. The woman gave Peter a mind blowing information and then practically told him to keep it a secret. And then there were also all the articles cut out of magazines. They all described Tony Stark as ignorant and selfish, barely human. It was as if Mary wanted to make sure Peter wouldn’t want to find that man.

He couldn’t really blame the woman for thinking of him badly. He wasn’t anywhere close to a good father figure. Ten years ago even less than now. But on the other hand, he truly despised her for putting Peter in a situation like that, torn between his mother’s obvious opinion and the need for a father in his life.

The page with paternity test results felt almost funny. He had seen it before after all. There were so many little pieces fitting together now. The weird things that the boy said or asked about, the things that made him anxious. If only Tony knew there was a chance of Peter being his son, he would have put it together long time ago.

He was sitting on the coffee table, unable to stop looking at the boy, now noticing all the little things that were so obviously taken after Tony.

The boy pretty much blacked out after their conversation and didn’t even stir when Tony put a fresh compress on his face. With the weight gone from his shoulders and the stress about what could happen disappearing, he suddenly felt the fatigue of the last weeks and couldn’t resist it anymore. All the events of that day, with the fight in school and crying his eyes out repeatedly, just added to it.

Tony couldn’t help but smile at the boy stretched out on the couch, sleeping with his mouth open. 

He hadn’t seen Peter so peaceful in a long time

It was even longer since Tony last felt so good himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for all the comments left on this work! It's my first multi chapter story and it was great to see you thoughts after every part. Reading comments and seeing the kudos count grow is thrilling! Honestly, it made me smile like crazy :)
> 
> Also... I planned for this to end with a little '2 months later' or something like that, but I felt bad for keeping you guys waiting and don't now how to write it yet. I might write a oneshot to finish this story in the future or add an extra chapter, so give me few weeks and check up for that then ;)

**Author's Note:**

> I planned to publish it when the whole work is ready, but I still have two chapters to write and could use some motivation. Every kudos and comment means a lot!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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